Remember
by noga999
Summary: Seven years ago Goku left to train Uub, shortly before Goten disappeared mysteriously. Now a new treat has landed on earth, a group of Saiyans searching to fulfill an ancient prophecy. Are their intentions as pure as they say? And what does Goten's disappearance have to do with it all? Goten/ Trunks, Pan/ Uub. Cover Image by JJJawor. Being rewritten.
1. Prologue

**Remember**

Prologue:

Goten and his dad finished their training just as the sun was setting. If he didn't have to eat Goku would've probably kept on training until the morning, when they would be leaving for the World Martial Arts Tournament, in which he - and his youngest son – were about to participate this year.

"Good job," Goten's dad said while he wiped his sweaty face with his shirt. Goku, however, didn't seem to be bothered by the thin layer of sweat that covered his forehead. Goten knew he lived for that sense of exhaustion at the end of a grueling training season (not that training with his youngest son was any challenge for him).

Goten was a lot like his dad in many ways. First of all, he looked just like him when he had been young, except for his hairstyle; He, unlike his dad, made an attempt to control the black mane that grew out naturally in every direction by cutting it in a boyish and wild style. He wasn't as tall as his dad, although his mother told him that he might still grow, but other than that, looking at his father's face was like looking in the mirror; The same high cheekbones, same eyes surrounded by long black eyelashes, and even the same carefree smile.

"Thanks," Goten replied, knowing that his dad's feedback wasn't a true measure of his performance. His dad always told him he was doing a good job, on days when he could almost beat him but also on bad days when he could barely land a punch.

He felt that that day tended more towards a bad day than a good one. For some reason he felt very distracted. Perhaps it was due to the sudden appearance of Trunks in the middle of the day... But no, he felt weird even before. In fact, he had been feeling that way for several days -like there was something lurking in the back of his head, swirling, trying to attract his attention, trying to remind him of something he had forgotten...

"Hey, Goten - are you listening to me?"

"What?" He realized that his dad was talking to him.

"About the Tournament tomorrow," his dad said, looking uncharacteristically serious. "Remember I told you about that fighter? The one that has a very high power level, possibly higher than mine?"

Goten nodded. Honestly, he was little tired of hearing his dad talk about this "Mysterious Fighter". Nonetheless, he just smiled and nodded.

"I still need to see exactly who it is, but... If he's really as strong as I think he is... I want to go and train him."

For a moment Goten hadn't realized the meaning of the words and their consequences. Then the realization settled in.

"All right," was all he thought to say. "Okay..."

"Yeah? You're okay with that?" His asked asked hopefully, with almost childlike enthusiasm.

"Sure," Goten lied in lack of talent. "You're always saying that you won't be here forever, and you should make sure that someone could protect earth when you're gone..."

"Exactly," Goku said, pleased at the thought that Goten understands him. He was worse at discovering lies than Goten was at telling them.

 _He's so happy with himself_ , Goten thought with mixed feelings. Standing there smiling that smile of his. Does he even understand the consequences of what he's about to do?

"Maybe it's a sign that I don't need a Master anymore," Goten found himself saying as he took his worn backpack that was laying on the cool grass some distance away. "You're never home anyway, so mom's used to you not being around. And Pan will be fine, she's young enough to forget you..."

He couldn't control the bitterness in his voice. His dad's face fell.

"Goten..."

"I'm sorry," Goten said honestly, realizing what he had said. He tied his sweat soaked shirt around his waist and looked at his father. "You're only thinking about our safety. I know. Really. I'll see you at dinner."

He rose into the air and flew away, allowing the evening air to cool his sweaty body. Only then he realized that his face was very hot, as if all the emotions he felt went up to his head.

He took a deep breath and calmed himself. He looked at the orange- pink shade of the horizon, allowing the beauty that was revealed high above the ground to distract him. The figures of the mountains against the sky and clouds were burning in a beautiful shade of red, and the treetops were enveloped in soft blue shadows. At such moments, when the world was utterly silent, at the transition between day and night, Goten felt life at their fullest. These moments were the source of his ability to act as if his troubles weren't so bad, and feel honestly that everything will work out.

A mechanical noise disturbed his meditation. He looked over his shoulder and saw a sophisticated looking aircraft trying to catch up with him. He smiled while stopping mid air.

The aircraft caught up with him after a brief moment. The cockpit opened, revealing Trunks. His bright oval hair was thin and smooth, moving in the wind, and his handsome face was tanned and graced with a small smile, rare but honest. Trunks wasn't a particularly cheerful person - he was like his father in that aspect - but Goten knew his smiles well, each and every one of them. That's how it is when you've been someone's friend since you can remember, not to mention all the times they fought to save the world together, or used the fusion technique to become one fighter.

"You've been here all this time?" Goten asked. He was sure Trunks went back home to train with his father as soon as he realized he had no choice but to fight in the Tournament the next day.

"A little spying on the opponent never hurt," Trunks replied, calculated and witty as ever.

Goten laughed. "Are you really that out of shape?"

"You laugh a lot for someone who's ass been kicked all day."

"Let's see you stand up against my dad for more than five minutes."

Trunks gave his characteristic chuckle. "I guess you're right."

They fell into a strange silence while hovering in the air facing each other. Trunks' eyes showed a mixture of royal blue and gold while looking straight at Goten. He felt an urge to look away.

That wasn't the first time Goten noticed how the sun's rays reflected his best friend's blue eyes. After all, there weren't many people who had eyes as blue as Trunks'. However, that day the sight woke something that lay dormant in his heart. Goten wasn't sure why this was happening to him. Perhaps because of the kiss. It had been almost two months since it happened, but the memory still hung over him like a black cloud, refusing to go away.

"We haven't had a chance to hang out in a while," Trunks said nonchalantly, even though they both knew exactly how long it had been since they spent time together. "You want to go get something to eat? You can tell me about your date."

Goten looked away in embarrassment. He wasn't sure why the situation was so embarrassing for him, he used to tell Trunks all the details about his love life.

"It is nothing serious," he blurted. Suddenly he became aware that he wasn't wearing a shirt. He didn't mind Trunks seeing him like that - they used to bathe together as kids, and until recently they used to go skinny dipping - but now it felt weird, when he knew that there is a possibility that Trunks sees him as more than a friend... Even if he acted as if nothing happened.

"You're seeing a guy?" Trunks tried to sound casual, but he didn't quite manage to.

Goten nodded, suddenly glad he was forced to cancel this date because of the Tournament. The Tournament made him think about his dad, and about what he had told him.

"Look... I really need to get home," he justified in a very unconvincing tone. "See you tomorrow, Trunks."

He turned his back and flew away quickly, aware that his house wasn't at all in that direction. He flew faster, using energy to accelerate, not wanting Trunks to catch up with him.

Maybe Trunks tried to follow him, he didn't know. He undoubtedly was the fastest of the two - probably the fastest flyer on Earth, according to Gohan's assessment. Soon he landed in a place where the trees were enormous, skillfully maneuvering between the sturdy branches, and soon arrived at his resort. It was a grassed slope that streached next to a wide pool, a spot shaded by the huge trees, hidden from the eye. No one knew about that place - not his brother Gohan, not his dad, and not even Trunks.

He lay back on the damp grass and looked at the purple sky through the branches. He had always been a social person, so why lately he just wants to be alone all the time? He always used to enjoyed some solitude in his favorite places in the woods and mountains, but recently he felt an inexplicable urge to be alone all the time. Smiling no longer came naturally for him like before, and he felt nervous, even angry, at the smallest things. What's happening to him?

Deciding that is was probably a puberty thing - after all, he was still in high school - he opened his backpack and took out a flashlight and a notebook with a hard cover decorated with shapes of green and red leaves. He sat it down, lit the flashlight and took the rubber band off the cover, flipping through the pages covered with his own wide handwriting.

What would Vegeta say of him if he knew that a member of the proud race of the Saiyans was seeking solitude to write poetry? He would probably give him a long lecture about his lack of respect to the values to his race and his inclination towards his human side, or mock Goku for his delicate and feminine son... Well, it was fine as long as he didn't know that his own son had experienced a sexual and intimate moment with another man.

Goten read his old poets, here and there deciding to erase a word and replace it with another, or to rephrase a line. If only he could express himself in the classroom like he expressed himself in his notebook, his grades could have been slightly better. Finally he reached the poet he wrote trying to describe in words how it felt to kiss Trunks, on his large bed in his cool, dark room in the city, smelling like expensive aftershave and cheap alcohol. But there there were just scattered words and unclear phrases. Since that night he couldn't write anything new.

Why did that night haunt him? He was the one who kept his composure when it happened, reminding Trunks that he was drunk, covered him with a blanket and slept next to him at night to make sure he wouldn't suffer from nausea. He was supposed to be okay with what happened, because contrary to Trunks, he had accepted the fact that he was attracted to men. The kiss meant nothing. Trunks probably didn't even remember that night, not the odd surge of jealousy he had towards the guy who asked Goten to dance, which forced Goten to take him home, and not the kiss they shared in his drunken state. So why - why - can't he stop thinking about it?

He knew it would be a bad idea to go that noisy club. He tried to tell Trunks he wasn't that type of person, that he should stick to he wild forests - that was where he belonged. No matter how much he wanted to adopt an urban lifestyle, to get away from the way he was raised, he always completed a full circle and came back to where he came from.

It scared him. He didn't want to be like his dad. He didn't want to spend the rest of his life training and fighting. He didn't want to be rural and uneducated as many people saw his dad. He wanted to go to the university, like Gohan, to see what the world could offer him. The problem was that he didn't have his brother's intellect, diligence and patience. He wasn't an outstanding student. Besides, he didn't even know what he would have wanted to study if he had the opportunity. He didn't have Gohan's sense and memory, not Trunks' sharp perception and mathematical skills, and not even his sister- in- law Videl's assertiveness ans people's skills. And since they were the three people he always compared himself to, Goten couldn't help but feel that he was lacking in the extreme when it came to his professional future.

A loud rustling sound made him sit up straight. The rustling continued, coming from a nearby bush. Goten turned off his flashlight, leaving the place in soft twilight darkness. The voice repeated itself and then stopped, leaving only the whisper of the stream and the last cries of the birds to fill the air.

Goten got up and approached the bush carefully, feeling for the sign of energy. He identified with certainty that it was an animal - a quite large one - and it was weak.

He peered into the bushes carefully. A pair of large dark eyes, beautiful and clever, shone through the leaves. It was a doe, it's small antlers stuck in the ferns.

Goten approached her silently. She didn't panic. He knew how to make animals trust him. He leaned carefully and released it; Only then he realized that it was lying there not because it was stuck, but because it's rear leg was badly injured.

"Who did this to you?" He murmured softly. The look the doe gave him was very specific, as if she understood him. "Come on, let's get you fixed up."

He stroked her short fur soothingly. To his surprise, she didn't even tense. He felt around cautiously until he could hold her, careful not to touch her injured leg, and lifted her up on his shoulders. Then he paused only to take his backpack and poets notebook before flying slowly toward his house.

Until he arrived it was already dark and the lights were on inside. Smoke rose from the chimney, spreading his mother's cooking aroma for miles. He landed in the front yard and with great care lowered the doe to the grass.

"Goten, where - what is that?" His mother stood at the door, her scolding interrupted by the sight of the injured creature.

"Could you watch her for a minute? I'm going to get the first aid kit."

"Goten, you can't bring home any injured animal you find," his mother told him sternly, but still did as he requested. No matter how stern she seemed, Goten knew she had great pity for the weak.

Inside, Goten discovered they had dinner guests. His dad was sitting on the living room carpet, playing with Goten's four year old niece, Pan. Pan's dad, Goten's brother, was sitting on the couch behind them with the telephone to his ear, apparently trying to understand why their phone wasn't working this time. He winked at Goten when he came in. By the peace in the room, Goten knew that their dad hadn't told his brother about his plans to leave. Not yet, anyway.

Gohan's wife, Vidal, was in the kitchen watching the dish in the oven. The wonderful scent distracted Goten for a moment from his mission, and he came to see what was cooking.

"Chicken with onions and potatoes," he stated.

"My name's Vidal," his sister in law replied witty. "Would it kill you to say hi to me before you greet your food?"

"I'm just being polite. It's not staying for dessert, but you are."

She playfully ruffled his hair, affectionately, like a big sister.

He slipped up the stairs to his room and returned with his first aid kit

"What did you bring us this evening?" Gohan asked, already understanding the meaning of the kit.

"A mature doe. You should come see, it's one of the most beautiful I've seen."

"I'll be right there," Gohan said, the phone still to his ear. "Pan, want to see the doe? Go with uncle Goten."

Pan ran to Goten enthusiastically, taking his outstretched hand. The four year old girl was very curious to see him handling the animal's injured leg. When it started to move in pain Goten hummed a calm melody and it relaxed; His niece almost stopped her breath from fascination at that point. Goten felt a certain satisfaction at the sight of her round face washed with awe.

He left the doe (Pan insisted that they should give her a name) to rest by the shack before his mom called them fpr dinner. During the meal Pan attacked him with questions and proposals for doe names. He was happy she did that, because it gave him an excuse not to think about his dad.

At the end of the epic meal (every meal attended by three Saiyans was an epic meal) Goten's mom ordered his dad to collect the dishes while she washed them. He obeyed her instantly, and Goten wondered if he's the only one who noticed that he's quieter than usual.

"It is time for you to go to bed," Vidal said to Pan, who started to look drowsy. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day."

The reference to the Tournament made Pan stir with great excitement. The whole family looked at her lovingly, except Goten, who looked at his dad. Pan was very attached to him. How would she react if he left tomorrow won't come back for months or even years?

Feeling the same unclear urge to be alone, Goten slipped out into the cool night. There was no city within a radius of tens of kilometers, so the stars above the family house were very bright. When Goten was younger, he and Trunks used to lie on the grass at night and imagine what kind of aliens lived on the various stars, and witch planet their dads came from.

He turned toward the shack, where the doe was lying on the grass. He sat down beside her. Her dark eyes were remarkably intelligent as they focused on him, and her nostrils flared in an attempt to sniff the air around him. He stroked her rich short fur.

He felt he could sit there all night. He sank in a lack of thought, like a sleep, only that he was still awake. It was a nice feeling. The presence of the peaceful animal was soothing. The look she gave him was so full of sympathy, as if she could understand him...

"Goten?" He raised his head at the mention of his name. His mom was standing over him in a robe and slippers, holding a garden lamp in her hand. She looked ready for sleep.

"Mm?" He replied, feeling a bit confused. Maybe he fell asleep and didn't notice?

"You've been sitting here for almost two hours, sweetie. Aren't you going to bed? We have to get up early tomorrow."

"Why?" He asked. The thought of tomorrow was as an empty white canvas. He didn't remember that he had any plans.

"The Tournament, Goten. Don't tell me you forgot. You and your father have to earn some money for us," his mother reminded him seriously.

"The Tournament? Oh, yeah." He recalled slowly. Strange that he had forgotten it. It was quite nice, this option to not thinking about anything.

He stroked the doe for the last time and rose from the grass. He felt she was looking at him as he entered the house after his mom.

It took him a long time to fall asleep that night, even though his head was empty. And when he fell asleep, his dreams were haunted by a pair of dazzling eyes, bright like ancient stars, dark and wide. He didn't know that that night was the first of many nights that these eyes would haunt him.


	2. Little Miss Son

Chapter 1

Little Miss Son

 _7 years later ..._

Pan came back home from school on a Friday afternoon in a great mood. She had no Homework and it was the weekend; That meant she could spend the whole time training with her dad and swimming with her best friend, Bra Briefs, in the Briefs' family pool. Life couldn't be better for an eleven year old quarter- Saiyen girl.

"I'm home!" She called out the moment she opened her front door. "Is anyone here?"

"I'm upstairs!" Her mom's voice came form the second-floor study.

Pan took off her shoes by the front door, left her school bag in the hall and climbed the stairs lightly. In the study, her mother was seated in front of her laptop in workout clothes, her legs stretched under the table, sipping from a large glass of juice while flicking through documents with one finger. Pan's mom liked to stay in shape - she was a very strong fighter - and Pan was used to seeing her wear training clothes rather than the strict office suit, with her short black hair, damp with sweat, tied back in a ponytail.

"How was your day, honey?" She asked, peering at her over the computer screen.

"Okay," Pan replied, preferring no to mention the fact that she had to accompany one of her classmates to the infirmary that day because she passed him the ball a little too hard in gym class. Everyone knew she was Mister Satan's granddaughter - The most powerful man in the world! - So these events generally ended up with her receiving no more than a stern look.

"Yeah? How was gym class?" Videl continued to ask naturally, her eyes on the screen.

Pan stressed. "Um..."

"I got a call form the principal earlier," her mother explained. She lowered the screen to look straight at Pan, a stern look in her eyes blue. "She told me you hurt a student. Again."

"It was an accident!" Pan defended herself immediately. "I didn't mean to throw so hard! It Just -"

"I know, sweetheart," Vidal said calmly, beckoning Pan to come near her. Then she began to arrange the bandana Pan wore on her head to restrain her black hair, which had a tendency to grow in all directions. She got that from her dad's side if the family. "But you have to try harder, before you really hurt someone. You're becoming stronger by the day, and someday we wouldn't be able to use grandpa Hercule as an excuse..."

"Why is it so bad to be strong?" Pan demanded to know, feeling wronged. "Dad always says Grandpa Goku had to leave to make sure there will always be someone to defend earth, so that all the people would be protected, and that one day maybe I'll have to help protect the planet from someone who wants to destroy it. So why should I be ashamed that I'm stronger?"

"You don't need to be ashamed, darling. But if people knew how strong you really are, or how strong your dad really is - God forbid - we couldn't keep on living a normal life. You remember how is is to visit grandpa Hercule, with all the photographers always lurking around. It will be much worse, and it will happen every day."

Vidal smoothed the bandana with a gentle hand and kissed Pan's head. "I had to grow up with it, and I don't want you to go through the same thing. Do you understand?"

Pan nodded, feeling a little bad about for getting mad at her mom. She knew she wanted the best for her, but sometimes she was just so tired of pretending she's a normal girl.

"Vidal, Pan, I'm home! Oops -"

Pan and her mother rushed downstairs when Gohan's voice was followed by several thuds and crashes. They found him lying on the floor among scattered groceries, his leg caught in Pan's backpack strap.

"Pan! How many times do I need to tell you not to leave your bag in the hallway?" Vidal scolded her daughter, kneeling to help her husband pick up the groceries.

"I'm sorry, Dad," Pan said meekly while her dad stood up from the floor and adjusted the glasses on his straight nose.

"It's okay, Pan," he told her and started laughing. Pan started to laugh too. She loved that her dad could see the humor in everything. He almost never got mad at her - he used to say that it was Videl's job.

The family gathered the groceries together and took them into the kitchen. Videl told Gohan about Pan's baseball indecent at school that day. He didn't scold her, just patted her head and said they would have to teach her how to control her power better.

Pan loved her dad very much. It's not that she loved her mom less - she loved them both equally - but sometimes her dad would behave more like a friend than a parent, and she liked that. He always watched over her and educated her, but he also knew how to laugh and have fun, and when they played together she felt that he's having as much as she does. That was how it used to be with her grandpa Goku, before he left.

Her dad was her role model. Strangers would think he was a geek because he worked at the academy and wore suits and glasses to work. They thought he was a regular, boring and maybe a little silly man, because he smiled a lot for no apparent reason. They didn't know that underneath his appearance he was a merciful, wise and courageous man, not to mention that he was one of the world's most powerful fighters. Everyone said so. Even her friend Bra's dad, Vegeta, who liked to act as if he didn't know Pan's family, admitted that Gohan was on of the most powerful fighters on Earth, immediately after himself and Pan's grandfather.

The small family started cooking dinner together as the day turned into evening. A single moth hit the kitchen window, eager to get to the warm lamp light.

"I going to take a shower," said Pan's mother and kissed her husband. "you should check on your mother. She usually arrives by this time."

"You're right," Gohan said while going through the mail. "Pan, can you go see if Grandma's coming?"

Pan, who had been hanging around in the kitchen doing nothing, nodded happily, glad to perform a task to relieve her boredom, and left.

Her grandmother had dinner with them almost every day, because she lived all alone on the other side of the field. Pan walked toward her house with light steps, letting the tall grass caress her palms. The air was warm and very pleasant - summer vacation was about to start soon - and the sky was completely yellow at sunset.

She entered her grandmother's house throw the front door, knowing there was no need to knock.

"Grandma?" She called. The lights in the kitchen were on, as was the TV, and a pot of stew on the stove was ready to be served to the table. But Pan's grandmother wasn't there. Confused, Pan searched the whole house, but her grandmother wasn't anywhere. _Strange._

Thinking she may find her in the back yard, taking off laundry she forgot on the rope before it got dark, Pan walked around the house to the back yard. The scene she witnessed there made her blood freeze.

Her grandmother was indeed in the backyard. Against the threatening shadow of a darkening forest, Pan saw her laying slumped in the arms of a monstrous creature. It rose to a height of two meters at least, his skin completely green. His ears were large and pointed and two antennas stuck out from his forehead. On his head he wore a strange turban, his shoulders were draped with pointy shoulder pads and a big, white robe that flapped in the evening breeze.

What was this monster going to do with Pan's grandmother? She didn't know, she just knew she had to stop him before he hurt her.

She fell on the creature with a battle cry and and punched him in the face. He stumbled away in surprise and dropped Chichi's limp body. Pan persisted in her attack, hitting the creature and pushing him back. He quickly gathered his wits, holding of the assault. She increased her energy, but it wasn't enough; She tried to land a kick, but he caught her foot with a green hand with long fingernails and she couldn't release herself.

"Let me go!" She shrieked at the monster with rage.

"What's going on? Pan?" Pan's dad landed in the grass behind her. He undoubtedly felt she increased her energy.

The monster released Pan's leg suddenly and she fell to the ground.

"This monster tried to eat the grandma!" She shouted to her dad in a desperate voice as she hurried to stand up before the creature could attack her on the ground.

The replay she got was a deep rolling laughter from the creature. He stood over her with his arms crossed, making no attempt to harm her.

"Even if I was a man eater, I doubt that your grandmother would have been to my liking," he told her in a low voice. Then, before Pan's eyes, he picked up her grandmother from the grass and approached Gohan, placing her carefully in his arms. Pan stared in amazement.

"Piccolo," Pan's dad said, looking at the creature with surprise mixed with concern. "When did you get back? What happened to my mom?"

"I gave her some very exciting news," The creature - Piccolo - said, ignoring the first question. "You have to hear them immediately. It's about Goten."

Pan watched her dad's face turn pale. She couldn't remember ever seeing such an expression of nervous anticipation and concern on his face.

She looked at the two in anticipation. Did he say Goten? Uncle Goten? But he disappeared years ago, when Pan was very young. What could this creature – that somehow knew her dad – tell them about him?

"Do you have information about him?" Gohan asked in a voice so quiet that Pan could barely hear him.

Piccolo nodded gravely. "I saw him."

Gohan eyes widened. Pan feared for a moment that he would pass out. "When? Where?" He demanded.

"About twenty minutes from here here. I came here as soon as I realized I wouldn't be able to catch him."

"Catch him? What do you mean?" Pan's dad began to look very upset.

"He has changed greatly, Gohan," Piccolo said sternly, keeping a calm appearance. "I didn't recognize his energy, but when I saw his face, I knew it was him. He still looks like Goku - even more than he had been seven years ago..."

"How did this happen? Start from the beginning," Gohan pleaded.

"I stopped to rest overnight on the way back here after my training journey," Piccolo explained patiently. "In a patch of forest that I used to train in. Then I felt a foreign energy near me. I searched for its source and found that someone was watching me from bushes. At first I could barely see him - he camouflaged with great talent - but when I saw him, I recognized him immediately. For a brief moment we just looked at each other. I'm quite confident that he didn't recognize me; he seemed intrigued by me. But when I tried to talk to him he fled, disappearing among the trees, and I couldn't sense his energy anymore. But I knew it was him. "

Pan's dad seemed torn between happiness and sadness. "Piccolo, if you're wrong -"

"I'm not mistaken," promised the green creature. "Maybe I haven't spent as much time with Goten as I spent with you, but I know his face. It was him."

Gohan took a deep breath to calm himself.

"I need you to take me there," he stated.

Piccolo nodded in grave readiness.

Gohan went to the Pan and passed her her grandmother's unconscious body. "Take her home and look after her until she recovers," he told her softly.

"Can I come with you?" She asked, even though she knew the answer.

"Not this time, Pan." Gohan stroked her head a little. Then he took off his glasses and put them in his jacket pocket.

Pan looked at piccolo, not sure what she's hoping to find there. To her surprise, he grimaced with a little friendly smile, revealing sharp little canines.

"Ready?" Gohan said. He nodded and they flew away.

Pan's dad didn't return home that night. She helped her mother take care of Grandma Chichi, but couldn't stop wondering about the mysterious Piccolo and Unlce Goten, until her mom ordered her to go to bed. She knew her grandma and her mom hadn't always gotten along, but Videl remained sitting next to her mother in law until very late at night, wiping her sweaty brow and making her drink cold water.

When Pan woke up the next morning she peered into her parents' room. Her dad wasn't there, and her mom was still asleep, although normally she would have been up at that hour.

She went into the kitchen and found her grandmother there, making breakfast quietly.

"Good morning, Panny," she said to her granddaughter with affection. "Keep quiet, your mother needs to rest."

Pan obeyed, sitting in a chair without having to drag it. Her grandmother served her breakfast, smoothed her wild hair and kissed her head, showing no sign that the night before had any effect on her.

Pan wasn't feel particularly hungry, but ate anyway. Her grandmother went to the window and looked out tensely, as if she was expecting someone. Pan imagined her mom had already filled her up on the events, and she was waiting expectantly to see not only her oldest son, but also her youngest, whom she hadn't seen for seven years.

"Grandma," she said quietly, trying to swallow a piece of egg. "Who's this Piccolo?"

"Piccolo? Oh, he was your father's master. He and Goku were enemies once, but over years they became friends," her grandmother told her. Usually she enjoyed telling stories about the past, but now it seemed she has no desire to.

Pan wanted to ask her about uncle Goten – if she thought they would find it - but for some reason it felt strange. She hadn't thought about him for a long time. Like her grandfather, in time she learned to live without him. She was very young when he disappeared, after all, and even her father had already lost hope of him ever returning. He became a sweet distant memory, like her grandfather, who left shortly before the mysterious disappearance.

Her grandmother had agreed that it would be better if she would spend the day at her friend's house. That's how it had always been when her parents were busy - they always sent her to the Briefs. Bulma was always happy to have her, but the last time it happened Vegeta shouted at Pan's dad that he wasn't running a kindergarden.

Pan's mood was heavy as she flew to West City, where her best friend lived. She remembered that when uncle Goten disappeared her parents sent her to stay with Bra, and she hadn't seen them for three days. Every time she tried to ask Bulma why she couldn't go home, she gently explained to her that her parents had to help her uncle now. Only after three days, her parents sat her in the kitchen for a conversation that she would never forget, explaining to her with serious faces that her uncle disappeared in the woods, and no one was able to find it. Even Trunks Briefs, who knew Uncle Goten's energy sign better than anyone else, was completely at a loss.

She landed before the Brief's family enormous house, in the heart of the West City. She came in through the kitchen door, feeling comfortable enough to let herself in. The kitchen, like any other room in the house, was wide and clean, furnished in a modern fashion and equipped with all the most sophisticated tools.

"Greetings, Pan Son," said the mechanical voice of the computer responsible for all the functions in the house. Pan jumped at the sound. This was a new addition to the house, the invention of Bulma Briefs, who ran one of the largest technological corporations in the world.

"Uh... hi," she blurted insecurity. "Where's Bra?"

"Miss Bra in busy in advanced training with master Vegeta in the training room."

"Fantastic!" She really wanted to train with someone and let out some energy. She ignored the computer's attempts to offer her different things to eat while she took the familiar route to Veggta's special training room. The screen next to the door showed a warning – the gravity in the room was twenty times the normal gravity of the Earth.

Pan let out a long whistle. Bra defiantly took her training seriously. But Bra took everything seriously - she found it was an integral part of her attempts to prove to the world that she was an adult. Without a second thought, Pan opened the door and entered.

The gravity in the circular chamber made it difficult for her to make the first step - she nearly fell off her feet. She gathered her strength and stood up.

"That's all you got?!" Vegeta shouted, standing in the center of the room with his fists on his hips in a threatening position. A short distance from him stood a young girl with blue hair, panting heavily. Her pale, beautiful face was covered with sweat. Like her father, she wore a navy colored training suit. Her hair, which was very long, was tied in a braid- bun on the back of her head, bright blue hairs sticking out around her face. neither of them noticed Pan as she entered.

"Come on! Let's see you transform into a Super Saiyan! Or are you afraid to ruin your hairstyle?" The black-haired warrior teased his eleven year old daughter meanly.

Bra grimaced angrily and stormed her father with renewed force, an attack which he deflected without any effort. Bra directed a ball of energy at him, which he avoided skillfully.

The ball flew straight towards Pan. Her heart leapt, but she managed to push it to the wall, there it sank into the energy filters, which used the power to generate power for the house (Bra's mother really was a genius).

That attracted the attention of two fighters to her.

"Pan! What are you doing here?" Bra asked in confusion, her anger forgotten.

"Dodging energy balls, apparently," Pan replied, dusting her hands. "I thought we could go for a swim, but to train with Vegeta looks like a lot more fun."

"Nobody invited you to join," Vegeta claimed arrogantly, lifting one black eyebrow.

"I think it's a great idea, Dad," Bra said, giving her father a teasing glance. "Unless you're afraid you can't beat both of us at the same time..."

Vegeta snorted. "Come on, let's see what you got."

Pan and Bra exchanged glances. Pan smiled and Bra chuckled . Then they stormed Vegeta simultaneously, each from a different direction.

Pan thought they were doing a pretty good job, considering that they were two little girls and Vegeta was a pure- blooded Saiyan, mature and very experienced. They fought him for a long time, until he had had enough; He kicked Pan aside, blocked Bra's attack for another brief moment, then threw her across the room too.

Pan shook the damage quickly and lunged again. It was a mistake - Bra had the same thought. Vegeta chuckled and disappeared. The girls collided forcefully and fell to the ground.

Vegeta has already appeared a few steps away. "You two are strong, but you've got to improve your technique. Especially if you intend to work together," he lectured them as they rubbed their aching heads. "If you go back and attack the enemy the same way every time you'll lose very quickly."

With these words he left the room.

"Good job," Bra said. Pan has learned to recognize when she spoke in sarcasm – a figure of speech used for mocking, which she learned from her older brother.

"You were the one who couldn't stop in time," Pan reminded her as her friend got up with the help of the hand she reached to her.

"Whatever," Bra replied, already bored with the argument. "So what were you up to this week?"

They walked together to the changing room, where Vegeta was busy wiping her face and hair with a towel. Pan would usually shrug when Bra asked that question - she loved to ask "adult" questions, and usually Pan didn't know how to answer without sounding childish. But today she had a lot to tell.

Bra listened to her attentively as she told her about Piccolo's appearance and about the news he gave to her dad as her fingers loosened her braid absently. Pan sensed that Vegeta was tilting his head slightly to the side as if listening to her story.

"Wow," Bra hummed when Pan finished the story, her loose hair reaching the bench she was sitting on. "Do you think they'll find him?"

"I hope so," Pan muttered.

Bra moved her blue gaze toward the ceiling. "I always liked Goten," she said, "He was always so nice to me. I never understood exactly what had happened to him." She looked at Pan expectantly for an explanation.

"Well, I don't really understand it myself," she replied. "My mom said he had something called amnesia. It makes you forget things."

"So he just forgot things? It doesn't sound so bad. My mom forgets things all the time, that's why she has a personal assistant and a journal."

"Not things like that. Important things," Pan said, beginning to feel uneasy about the conversation. "Important things that happened, people's names. Sometimes he forgot where he was and my dad had to remind him again and again..."

Pan paused. She didn't like to think about it. A very short time before her uncle disappeared she spotted him sitting in the garden when she came to visit him and her grandmother. She went to him and asked to him to play with her. He agreed, and they played with her ball for a short time before he told her she was a very nice girl and asked her what was her name. Her uncle - the boy who made her laugh and sang her songs since she could remember herself - asked her for her name, because to him they were strangers. And he just stood there and smiled at her naturally. It was surreal. She was so confused and didn't know what to say or do, so she started to cry.

The next thing she remembered was her mom taking her inside, and her dad resting his hands on his brother's shoulders while talking to him softly. That was the last time she saw her uncle.

It seemed that Bra sensed she didn't want to talk about it anymore, or she was simply desperate to wash, because she grabbed a towel and went into one of the private shower rooms. Pan was relieved.

After she showered, put on a pair of jeans and a tank top and brushed her long hair, the two went to the kitchen for an after- training snack. Vegeta had almost finished his meal there, but two plates of food were waiting for them, untouched.

They sat down and ate without saying anything to Vegeta. Pan always thought it was weird he acted like he didn't care although he obviously did, but she knew the Briefs long enough to know that when Vegeta did something nice, you just had to accept it and shut up.

"Hey. What are we eating?" Bra's elder brother walked into the kitchen, setting a business briefcase on a chair while his other hand lessened his tie.

Pan looked at the suitcase in disbelief. "Trunks – Don't tell me you're working on Saturday!"

"I'm always working, Pan," he replied, pulling out a bottle of water from the refrigerator. He sipped and winked at her. "And even when I'm not working, I'm still working."

He searched the kitchen for leftovers. "Come on, you didn't leave me anything!"

"Stop complaining," Vegeta growled, putting a mountain of dirty dishes in the sink. Mechanical hands sprout out and immediately began to wash them. Pan knew what she was going to suggest Bulma to buy her mom for her next birthday.

"Trunks, guess what?" Bra's started. "Some funny guy told Pan's dad that - ouch!"

Her eyes filled with tears as she held her head where her dad gave her a blow.

Trunks raised an eyebrow in a manner that reminded his father. "You know, when I look at it that way, it really does look like abuse."

With these words he took his briefcase and headed toward his room, not interested in what his sister was trying to tell him.

Vegeta waited for him to leave earshot before he hissed, "Don't you dare say a word about that other brat when he's around, you understand me?"

"Why?" Bra demanded with a combination of insult and anger for the treatment she received. "Goten was his best friend! He'd want to know if -"

"Do you really think he should hear that stupid rumor?" Her dad retorted acidly. "He needs a lot less than that to go out on another fruitless searching quest, which can go on for weeks and months! Maybe you don't remember what it was like for him the first time, but I do remember."

Vegeta stood up and turned his back on the girls, so they couldn't see the expression on his face.

"He can't afford another delay in his training," he said in a strange, unconvincing voice and left.


	3. Buisness Suits and Combat Boots

A/N: Sorry about grammar errors in previous chapters. The story is translated so it's been hard to do it right. But this chapter should be a lot better.

R&R please!

Chapter 2

Business Suits and Combat Boots

Trunks had to spend Sunday morning at a corporation emergency meeting. He left the office building before an entourage of assistants and secretaries and rushed to catch a taxi before any of them could catch up with him. His excellent gray suit and briefcase stood out like a red light for any taxi driver in sight, and he didn't have to wait a second before a yellow vehicle stopped in front of him with a screeching halt.

"Where to, sir?" The driver asked Trunks as he slipped inside and closed the door behind him, shielding himself from the hoard of secretaries who wanted a piece of him.

"Just go," he ordered. "Hurry."

The driver obeyed. Trunks looked out the back window to see his pursuers disappear between the cars and tall buildings.

He sighed and loosened his tight tie. It was bad enough that he had to spend the morning in a meeting, he wasn't going to let them load him with more work.

Whether Trunks loved his job was a complicated question. Like his mother, he enjoyed devising and building his inventions much more than sitting in the office and making management decisions for the company. But on the other hand, sometimes he liked to know that he was in charge, knowing that the fate of the corporation depended on him, and that everyone saw him as the ultimate authority for any decision. He always had an urge to be in the center of attention, since he was a child - a feature he no doubt inherited from his father.

But there were days when he was simply fed up. He couldn't bear to sit one more minute in some conference room or in his office, being surrounded by suck- ups or just people who thought he could solve their problems. Those days were the worst days, because then he just felt empty. Even now, watching grey streets and bleak skyscrapers through the car window, Trunks felt cold, detached from the world around him. So alone.

In his youth, if he was tired of his family or school, he would just hang out with Goten. It didn't matter what they would do – watch a movie, spar together, explore the woods or just lounge and talk for hours on end - it always made Trunks feel like a new person. It gave him something to look forward to. He always had other friends that he enjoyed spending time with, but they weren't Goten. With Goten he didn't feel he needed to fill any exaggerated expectations, he didn't have to pretend to be just another rich kid, and he didn't have to hide his power or his love of fighting. They could train together for hours, and it was fun as any other teenage activity.

More than that, he felt that Goten understood him. Really understood. He understood what it meant to be different, how it's like to have great things expected from him, how it was to live in the shadow of his father. They were so close they didn't even have to speak to tell the other what was going on – they just knew. Perhaps it was due to the fact that they had occasionally shared one body, or the fact that they were friends since they could remember.

But Goten wasn't there anymore. He hadn't there for seven years. Seven long years.

Sometimes Trunks couldn't contain the loneliness that filled him in moments when his mind wasn't distracted by work or training. At such moments the old feelings of guilt would creep back into his thoughts. The thought that maybe he could have saved Goten if only he tried harder still haunted him. If only he had been there for him after his father left, allowing his friend to hang onto him instead of thinking only of himself, perhaps Goten would have been there with him now. If only he would have been sensitive enough to realize how he was hurting his friend - if he would have repressed the pride and fear and admitted to Goten that he remembered the kiss, and that he wasn't that drunk that night in his room - perhaps Goten wouldn't have gone crazy.

He knew it was foolish to think such thoughts. He knew that what happened to Goten wasn't his fault. But it didn't help him to stop feeling remorse whenever he thought of his old friend. Feeling that maybe he missed an opportunity to feel something wonderful...

"Stop here," Trunks ordered the taxi driver, aware that they were more or less in the middle of nowhere, in a remote and neglected neighborhood.

"But..."

Trunks paid him at least twice what he owed him.

"Keep the change," he said, picked up his bag and left. He felt that if he would sit quietly for another moment with the thoughts that haunted he would explode. He had to find a distraction.

Making sure no one was watching him, he took off and disappeared into the urban mists, tucking his tie into his pocket. Searching until he recognized the energy signature, he turned east. He flew until the city became the country side, then the wild, the beach and then the sea. Even then he continued to fly, the sun beating down on his back and the water underneath him twinkling brightly, gold in a sea of sapphire.

He lowered for a moment, looking at his reflection in the moving blue mirror of the ocean. His oval hair batted in the wind, and his tanned face had a serious, somewhat gloomy look. He tried to smile like a movie star, but decided it looked forced. He recalled how Goten used to raise the corners of his mouth with his fingers to make him smile, but he repressed the memory, knowing he wouldn't get anywhere if he started to think about him again.

Damn, he really looked old in that suit... And to think he was only twenty five. He had become an adult. What would Goten say if he saw him like that? He had made him vow that they would never grow up...

There, he's thinking about Goten again, his smile flashing at him from the glowing waves. He flew higher and forced himself to think about something else.

Kami House appeared on the horizon a few minutes later. Trunks hadn't been there for a long time. He landed on the tiny island. Loud music came from the small house, almost overcoming the constant sound of the surrounding waves. Trunks gave a ting smirk and walked to the door.

The scene before him was entertaining, although not surprising. Marron and Master Roshi were standing in front of the TV, which was turned on a pop music station, singing and dancing together along with the music.

Trunks waited for them to finish their little show. At the end of the song Master Roshi fell into an impressive split and Marron was frozen in a dramatic pose. Trunks put away his briefcase and applauded them.

Marron turned in shock. She was dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, and her blond hair was pulled back in a ponytail. She was still holding a hairbrush like a microphone. Master Roshi suddenly remembered that he was a hundred years old or so and fell on the carpet with a moan.

"Trunks, hey," Marron's face flushed. She noticed the brush and tossed it aside. "How long have you been standing there?..."

Trunks shrugged. "An hour, more or less..."

Marron looked at him crossly. "Very funny."

"You think? I think it was a bit weak."

"Someone's in a bad mood today," Marron said reluctantly.

"Just today?"

Marron rolled her eyes and went to the kitchen, taking out of the fridge Trunk's favorite soft drink.

"Let's go outside and you can tell me all about your day," she said. "Call me if you need anything, Master Roshi," she threw toward the old man who was still lying on the floor on the way out.

"This is much better," Trunks admitted after a few minutes as he was lying on a sun bed under a palm tree after abandoning his jacket, tie, shoes and socks. He took a long sip from the glass bottle.

"I know you a little," Marron said contentedly, stretching and calmly sipping her drink. She blinked her dark eyes against the swaying light filtering through the branches of the tree, her round face wearing a peaceful expression. She got her father's facial features, unfortunately, but the blond hair and the structure of her long, narrow body she got from her mother, so it was hard to decide whether she was attractive or not.

"Yeah, a little," Trunks said, leaning back. He may not be used to talking about his feelings, but sometimes it really surprised him how well Marron knew him and his moods.

Marron was Trunks and Goten's friend since childhood. Trunks could now admit that when they were young he wasn't particularly fond of her. She was three years younger than them and he and Goten always had to be careful she won't get hurt while they were playing together, because they were much stronger than her. Other than that, she was... Well, a girl. She was a party pooper and she always had something to say about everything. As a child Trunks especially disliked her because every time he almost succeeded in convincing Goten to pull some silly prank she would intervene and remind him that it was a bad idea, and that he didn't have to do everything Trunks told him to, even if he was older. Trunks hated that she undermined the uncompromising trust Goten had had in him.

Goten had always been the glue that kept them together, and it was his disappearance that made the relationship between Trunks and Marron strengthen significantly. When Goten was gone they both needed someone to cling to, a friend, and that was when they had found each other. At that stage of their lives Marron was no longer an annoying little girl, but a mature 15 year old girl, and in the absence of Goten Trunks had no reason to envy her for depriving him of his friend's attention. So their friendship grew stronger, and sometimes Trunks regretted giving her a nasty attitude in their childhood. These days she was the only person he felt he could talk to, even if he didn't feel she could understand him like Goten did.

They chatted for a while, talking about Trunks' never ending work and the courses Marron was taking in Western City College. In the second round of soda Marron used Trunks' laptop to show him a picture of a guy from college she started dating.

"He seems nice," Trunks said after looking at the picture, saving Marron his opinion that the guy looked disturbingly like her dad.

"I think so too," Marron said. By the way she smiled at the picture Trunks knew she was serious about that guy. "What about you? You're dating someone?"

Trunks shrugged and took a long sip. Marron didn't press. He didn't understand why she continued to ask him about his romantic life when she knew he had never been in a serious relationship.

After graduation his relationships with the girls he went out with became shorter and shorter until they were nothing more than flings. Recently he felt that even those were a waste of his time. No one - neither man nor woman – interested him in any way, romantic or friendly. He gave up trying to find someone who he would really be able to develop feelings for. What was the point? He was just so cold.

He didn't even enjoy the casual sex he had with the young businesswomen he scored every once and a while, not really. He didn't know why he kept chasing it, why he kept making eye contact with them in the boardroom or from the other side of the bar, even though he knew that after it would be over he would just want to leave the room and be completely alone, to sink in his work or training. Continue to sink in solitude, in the sweet pain it offered him. But as always, he wore a mask of contentment and suppressed the negative emotions that surged through him, not allowing them to undermine his confident appearance. He went on presenting the world with a face of a rich and successful man whose life was going on exactly as planned, although inside something was missing.

After lunch the two went to the shaded side of the house to spar under the supervision of Master Roshi, who was sited in a comfortable chair while smoking a pipe. Marron didn't match Trunks in terms of power or speed, but he had to admit (not out loud, of course) that she had a beautifully polished technique. Apart from that it was a nice change from the violent and intense spars with his father.

He left his cell phone in his bag on silent mode, and made sure to ignore the repeated vibration of the device when different people from his office tried to figure out where the hell he disappeared to. Marron agreed he deserved to get a free weekend every now and again. But it seemed his mother didn't think the same.

Bulma Brief's private helicopter landed on the island during the late afternoon hours. She walked out of it with Marron's parents, Krillin and 18. Trunks sighed, abandoning its fighting posture.

"The party's over," he told Marron.

"Trunks Briefs!" Trunks' mother was wearing a red business suit, her short blue hair maintaining its perfect shape despite the warm wind that blew across the island. She stepped toward him angrily, almost stumbling when her heels sank into the sand but continued forward with determination. "I should have known I'd find you here! I've been trying to reach you on the phone for hours -!"

"Sorry, Mom. I must've forgotten to put back the ringtone after the meeting," Trunks lied skillfully. He knew very well that he left the phone on silent mode. "Hey, Krillin, eighteen," he added.

"Hey, Trunks," Krillin replied, with no doubt embarrassed to stand between Trunks and the wrath of his mother. The small man's wife silently nodded in his direction.

Bluma blew air in dissatisfaction, flipping a group of hairs from her face.

"Well, no use crying over spilled milk," she said firmly. Trunks hated being with her in days of corporate emergency situations, it brought out the evil in her. Usually she wasn't that uptight. "Fix your clothes and let's go. We have a meeting with our partners from the Northern Corporations in half an hour, and you know they don't suffer delays."

Trunks looked at Marron desperately, trying to find a way out of the irritating obligation. Marron wasn't looking at him, but at the sky behind him. He turned to see what she was looking at in time to see a dozen glowing comet- like tails crossing the blue sky. Then a tremendous tumble shook the ground violently. Huge waves rose up in the sea and in the house the glassware rattled and shattered. Bulma fell off her feet in a shriek.

"What was that?" Krillin called when the shaking stopped. "An earthquake?"

"You know better than that, Krilin," claimed 18 in a deep feminine voice, her ice-blue eyes fixed on the horizon where the comets landed.

"Someone landed on Earth," Master Roshi said with uncharacteristic seriousness. "Someone powerful. Try to feel the energy."

Trunks helped his mother to her feet and then tried to concentrate and feel the energy. Master Roshi was right - the energy sign was choked but it was there, pulsating and powerful. Foreign.

"There's more than one," Marron said, standing with bare feet in the water in an attempt to get closer and feel the energy better. "Their energy is strong, but... It doesn't feel strange, like an alien."

Trunks agreed. Looking at the horizon, where he thought he was beginning to see wisps of smoke rising from the ground, he realized the energy was familiar. But it wasn't possible - it didn't make sense. So he didn't say anything.

"We have to go check it out," he said and started to put on his shoes.

"But -" Bulma started.

"It could be something serious, Bulma," Krillin came to Trunks' aid. "It could be another threat to the planet. If it's true, Trunks should be there."

Bulma opened her mouth, closed it and nodded in understanding. "I'm coming with you," she stated and turned toward her chopper. "I'll pass messages to Vegeta and Gohan on the way. Roshi, come on!"

Master Roshi jumped up, took his staff and hobbled after Bulma to the helicopter as the four others rose up into the air and started flying fast.

Soon they began to see smoke rising from an island that was mostly forest. Krillin accelerated slightly and caught up with Trunks and Marron, who flew ahead of him and his wife.

"Marron, if the situation starts to get dangerous, I want you to keep your distance," he said gravely.

"I can fight," she replied. "You said I was as least as strong as you -"

"Still," her father insisted. "You were never in a real battle. So stay behind and don't fight unless you have no other choice. Okay?"

"All right," Marron replied in surrender, but Trunks knew she wouldn't necessarily comply when the time comes.

As they were landing on the island the smoke was black and thick. Trunks noticed a huge crater that appeared in the center of the island, almost as big as the island itself. There was almost no trace of the island's vegetation; all the trees were flattened by the force of the impact or were crushed under the weight of the waves that rose due to the force of the impact. The four fighters landed on the island, shielding their eyes from the smoke. The earth looked like a battlefield, a combination of broken logs and dead fish that drifted with the waves.

Trunks coughed, his eyes watering. Marron and Krilin suffered from the same problem, but 18, who wasn't totally human, looked through the smoke with a calculated gaze. The smoke continued to rise from the crater like water in an overflowing pot, and with it leaked into the atmosphere a strong and stable energy. It was hard to say exactly how strong. Now Trunks was able to feel there were several energies there.

He approached the crater rim, Marron behind him. He had to wait a while before the smoke cleared, and then he saw them - thirteen worn metal pods, each large enough to hold a sitting person inside.

"These are spaceships," Krilin said confidently. "Vegeta came to Earth in a ship like that, and Goku when he returned from Namek."

Before Trunks' eyes one of the pods opened with a hiss of pistons. Movements were visible through the smoke; A man bending to get out of the pod before standing up straight. One by one, the pods opened and out stepped a dozen figures. Their energy rose like waves from the crater, suffocating like steam. Every one of them, without exception, was a strong fighter. Each individual wasn't as strong as Trunks, but all of them together were dangerous. Very dangerous.

Trunks prepared to defend himself if necessary while straining his eyes to see through the smoke. The figures appeared to be human, muscular and big headed - or maybe those were just the shadows of their hair? - And behind them, waving, were long, thin tails.

Trunks' eyes widened. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Was it really possible? Were these people who had just landed on Earth the survivors of a supposedly extinct race? Were they Saiyans - like him?

A strong gust of wind dispersed the smoke, revealing the thirteen warriors stretching after a long stay in their space pods. They were all muscular with dark pointy hair and wore Saiyan style suits of armor in different colors. They didn't seem to notice the four warriors that were watching them in suspense from the edge of the crater. If they did, they weren't at all interested in them.

Finally the leader of the Saiyans, secluded from the rest by a magnificent emerald cloak pinned to his shoulders by silver jewels in the form of stars with seven points, looked up straight at Trunks. He was relatively shorter than his friends, but no less sturdy, and had short pointy dark hair streaked with silver. He was quite old - older than Trunks' father – his tanned face worn with anger and pain. Slowly, the leader turned his whole body toward the four residents of earth, examining them with an expressionless face, his hands on his hips.

Trunks noticed one of his men fumbling with his scouter, no doubt examining their energy level. He studied 18, than Krilin and Marron, not looking particularly impressed. But when he reached Trunks his eyes widened slightly. He leaned toward the leader and murmured something in his ear. The leader's gaze focused on Trunks, showing no emotion.

"We come in peace!" He announced in a booming voice.

"Yeah, sure," Krillin muttered resentfully near Trunks' elbow. "They think we don't know what they are..."

"Excuse me, my good man," The leader said out loud. "I didn't catch what you said... You understand the language I speak, do you?"

Trunks straightened up, realizing it was time to use the diplomatic skills he acquired while working in Capsule Corp.

"Absolutely," he replied evenly. "If you come in peace, what are you looking for on this planet?"

The leader examined Trunks with dark, battle- hardened eyes. "Do you know who we are, boy?"

"You're Saiyans," he said. "The people of Planet Vegeta that was destroyed years ago by the tyrant Frieza. A race of warriors... That make their living by destroying planets on demand."

"It's true," the leader said. He rose into the air, his men following. Trunks and his friends retreated when they stepped out of the crater in front of them, ready to fight. "Fear not, I stand by my word. As you said, our planet has been destroyed a long time ago, and we no longer make a living from the destruction of planets. Not since we saw the error in our way."

Trunks was confused. The thirteen Saiyans standing in front of him looked exactly as he would have expected them to look - tough, strong, and calculated. Warriors since birth, like his father. Addicted to destruction and annihilation. They couldn't have really decided to become peace-loving people...

"There is something on this planet that we desperately need," the leader continued. "Once we find this thing, we shall leave and never come back."

"What exactly are you looking for?"

The leader's face wore and expression that might have been a smile. "This information will be given only in the presence of Prince Vegeta." The odd smile widened slightly in the sight of the astonishment on Trunks' face. "Our devices tell us you have Saiyan blood, boy. You can certainly take us to him."

"But... how? How do you know he's here?" Trunks asked in confusion.

Before the leader could respond a rattling sound indicated that Trunks' mother's helicopter landed in a safe distance away. After less than a minute a figure surrounded by an aura of power cut the sky and Trunks' father landed a few steps to his right, right in front of the Saiyans.

"Prince Vegeta," said the leader as the thirteen warriors knelt before him as one. Vegeta didn't seem excited at by that behavior, although Trunks detected the shadow of a hard emotion passing in front of his father's eyes.

He himself didn't know how it made him feel. Yes, he knew that his father was the prince of planet Vegeta before its destruction, but he never really understood it until that moment.

"Cassius," Vegeta addressed the leader. "I was certain that -"

"I survived the battle on Planet Aquila, after all," the leader, Cassius, said with an almost maniac grin. Suddenly he took off his armor, exposing his broad scarred chest. Trunks heard a shocked sound escaping Marron at the sight of a large ugly circular scar in the center of his chest, which was undoubtedly formed by a direct hit from an energy beam that passed through his body. "I cheated death by the best of the Saiyan tradition. And more importantly – on the verge of death, in the midst of the destruction and violence around, I saw the error of my way. The good and proud Saiyans that you see here in front of you gathered from throughout the galaxy since that day, and they follow me for the sake of our common goal. "

He put back his armor and cloak, adjusting the star-shaped pins. Vegeta's eyes suddenly widened.

"No..." he muttered in disbelief. "Here? On Earth?"

Cassius nodded seriously.

Trunks looked at his father uncomprehendingly. "What is he talking about?" He wanted to know. "What's on earth?"

Cassius turned to Trunks with a derisive look. "You helped us a great deal, boy, but now that Prince Vegeta is here you can return to your business. Your assistance is no longer necessary."

"Be careful with your words," Vegeta told him sternly. "You're speaking to the Crown Prince of Planet Veggeta, Prince Trunks."

Trunks gave his father a startled look. Marron let out a sound combined of a cough and a laugh. Krillin looked a little embarrassed, looking between Trunks and the Saiyans uncertainty.

Cassius and his team examined Trunks shamelessly. He in turn straightened his back, not unnerved by the stares. He always knew that his father was royalty, which meant that he was royalty, but he never thought of himself as a prince - not until that moment, anyway.

"We heard a rumor that Your Majesty brought into the world heirs that were half Saiyan half earthlings, but we didn't believe," Cassius admitted. He continued to examine Trunks, then bowed to him half-heatedly. "Forgive me for my ignorance, Prince Trunks. I expected you to look more like a Saiyan."

Not sue if it was meant to be an insult, Trunks remained silent.

Some of the scouters started beeping. Their owners looked to the sky.

"Oh, there is another one of the half- breeds we heard so much about," Cassius said, looking at the sky. After a moment two people landed near by - Gohan and Piccolo. Trunks was surprised to see Gohan looking rough, as if he hadn't slept or bathed for several days. He wasn't wearing his glasses.

"So my senses were right," Piccolo said gravely, exploring the Saiyans with black eyes.

Cassius studied Gohan briefly, Piccolo completely ignored, before turning back to Vegeta. "Forgive me for being direct, Your Majesty, but our tradition states that before a descendant of the King is declared a legitimate heir he must pass a test that would prove his strength."

Vegeta chuckled. "You've always been one for tradition, Cassius," he said loftily. "Choose your champion – Trunks will defeat every fighter that you would present."

"Wait, what?" Trunks didn't like being spoken for as if he wasn't present.

Cassius smiled contentedly. Trunks suddenly understood why his smile looked so strange – his teeth were pink, as if washed by blood a long ago. He waved his arm to a female fighter on his right. She was taller than Trunks, her thick black hair tied in a square braid.

"Tala is one of the most powerful fighters in our ranks. She will be a worthy challenge."

"Go ahead." Vegeta signaled for Trunks to choose the battlefield.

It would have been a lie to say Trunks didn't want to fight. He was a Saiyan, and more importantly, Vegeta's son - he couldn't stand not to meet a challenge when presented to him.

He took off his jacket and handed it to Marron.

"Be careful," she warned him.

"Don't worry about me," he replied confidently.

Tala rose into the air, landing on a straight and relatively empty patch of ground a few feet from the others. The female warrior took off her scouter. Trunks could understand why his father chose a human woman instead of a Saiyan – She wasn't what he would've called attractive.

"Show her, Trunks!" His mother shouted from her safe place on a nearby hill.

Trunks raised his hand to wave, but his hand froze in the air. A strange feeling crept up his spine, as if someone was staring at him from behind. He turned his head quickly, feeling disturbed. But there was no one there, just rocks and trunks of uprooted trees. How strange. He could have sworn someone was there. He felt a familiar presence in his bones...

"You're going to look at the view all day, or are we going to fight?" The Saiyan woman said sternly. Her voice was even less attractive than her appearance.

Trunks got into combat stance, meaning to say something witty, when another strong energy unnerved him. He lifted his head to see four figures swooping low and landing where everyone gathered; two girls – Pan and Bra - a man and a boy. The man was tall, had tousled black hair and wore a traditional blue gi. The boy was skinny, dark-skinned, with dark hair cut in a pinch.

"Hi guys!" Goku called in typical cheerfulness, acting as if it hadn't been seven years since their last encounter.

"Goku!" Krillin cried in disbelief.

"Dad," Gohan's voice was soft and amazed.

Trunks' heart made a strange jump. He took a deep breath and scolded himself for his reaction. He knew very well that the man was Goku, not Goten, even though they were very similar. He knew that. So why did the similarities between the father and the son appealed to him like that?

He had to concentrate on the battle. No matter that Goku was back – that wasn't an excuse to remember Goten again. That wasn't an excuse to develop a sense of hope that maybe together with the father who left, his son would come back home.


	4. The Sacred Hunt

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys! Hope you like this next chapter.

Chapter 3

The Sacred Hunt

Uub flew across the clear sky next to his Master, over the endless blue sea. And to think that only a few years ago he had learned how to fly and floated uncertainly in the air above his village; today he was able to fly almost as fast as Goku.

"Can you feel it, Uub?" His Master called with an almost childlike enthusiasm. "Can you feel that energy? Strong warriors had just landed on Earth!"

Uub nodded, unsure of what to say. Yes, he learned how to sense energy signatures, and he felt the new energy pulsing with a stable rhythm over the horizon. But he found it hard to understand why his Master was so enthusiastic. After all, if powerful fighters have landed on Earth, it probably meant they had evil intentions, didn't it?

But Uub learned over the years not question his Master's motives. Goku was a bit odd – Uub had a feeling he didn't think that way only because they came from different cultures – but he wasn't as slow as he seemed at first sight. Uub had learned that Goku was a gentle, wise and kind man. A person that could be trusted no matter what. He felt very close to him from the moment they met, as if he knew him from a past life. He once told him that. In response Goku laughed and then looked at him strangely with an knowing look, which made Uub suspect that Goku knew something he wasn't telling him.

"Look!" He called when he saw two distant figures flying in the same direction as they were.

Goku turned to look. He seemed confused for a moment, then a huge smile appeared on his face.

"Hey!" He called loudly and changed the direction of his flight. Uub flew after him.

Both of the figures halted and turned. Uub realized they were two girls. . He had never met someone except Goku who was able to fly, much less small girls who were younger than him.

"Pan! Bra!" Goku exclaimed. "I hardly recognized you two! You're huge!"

The girls stared at Goku in disbelief. Both were much shorter than Uub, both with fair skin. One had very long blue hair and the other had short black hair that was tied in an orange bandana. She was the first to shake off the shock. For some reason, she didn't look happy to see Goku. She looked at him with a strange look that Uub couldn't decipher, and had no desire to, because her black eyes made him feel an itch he couldn't explain.

It seemed that Goku didn't notice that look. "Uub, meet my granddaughter, Pan. And that's her friend, Bra."

The intense black eyes focused on Uub. His face flushed with shyness. Pan didn't look happy to see him any more than she was pleased to see her grandfather.

"Come on, Pan, won't you give me a hug?"

Uub desperately wished that Goku would understand what was going on.

Those words angered Pan even more. She gave him a look of resentment and continued to fly at high speed. Goku looked after her in confusion.

"You're an idiot, Goku," Pan's blue-haired friend said rudely and flew after her. Uub was shocked; he wouldn't have dreamed of speaking to his Master that way.

"Uh... Well, she certainly takes after her grandmother..." Goku said. Then his face fell. "Pan's mad at me, isn't she?"

Uub nodded with discomfort.

Goku sighed. "I hoped that when she grew up she'd understand..."

"She'll come around, Goku," Uub tried to cheer him up sincerely. He sometimes felt very uncomfortable with the fact that Goku had left his family to train him, but he also knew Goku didn't at all do that from selfish motives. He did it so there would be those who could defend the Earth when he would no longer be there – protect it from threats like that which had just arrived.

"You think so?" Goku asked uncertainly.

"I'm sure!" Uub said, trying to adopt his Master's usual confidence.

That caused Goku to smile with relief and stand up tall. "Okay, let's keep going!"

They flew after the girls and soon came close to catching up with them. Then a piece of land became visible beneath them, laid in ruins and shrouded in wisps of smoke. The girls landed there, Uub and Goku following. All the people on the island watched them. Uub felt very embarrassed.

"Hi guys!" Goku called excitedly as he landed.

"Goku!" A little man with graying hair cried, looking at Goku incredulously.

"Dad..." Muttered a dark-haired man who stood a few steps away. He was very similar to Goku – his son, obviously. Uub longed for the earth to swallow him at that moment, although he was curious to know which one of his Master's sons that man was. He heard a lot about his Master's two sons; Gohan, the eldest, who preserved an enormous hidden power that transcended that of his father, and the youngest, Goten, which was the world's most agile fighter.

"I hope you didn't start without me," Goku said, completely unaware of the shock his appearance caused.

"Goku!" A blue-haired woman shrieked from a distant hill, her voice carried out in a scream. "Now you come back?! Chichi's going to kill you!"

Goku chuckled in embarrassment.

"Ah, this must be the Saiyan Kakarrot, Bardock's son," said a strange man who wore on his face a green lens that showed all kinds of strange glowing signs. "Yes, definitely..."

"Uh... And who are you?" Goku asked.

"Those are survivors from planet Vegeta, Kakarrot," a short man with a pointy black hair said. Uub remembered him from the World Martial Arts Tournament where he meat Goku - he was very scary back then, too. "They have no hostile intentions towards Earth."

"If you say so," Goku said seriously, studying the thirteen tough and strange people standing on the edge of a huge crater littered with large white balls. Uub was very confused. There were many things he didn't understand about the big world, because he rarely left his village.

Pan went straight to Goku's son, who was no doubt her father. Bra went to stand next to the man with the pointy black hair, examining the foreigners with suspicion.

"Pan - what are you doing here?"

"We felt the energy, so we came to see what was going on," Pan replied. "Did you find –?"

"Not now," her father told her softly but seriously.

"Uub, meet Krillin, and this is his wife, we call her eighteen. This is... Marron? Gee, how you've grown! The guy with green skin is Piccolo, and next to him is my oldest son, Gohan. Pan and Bra you met already... That's Vegeta - He likes to pretend he's mean, but he's okay. On the hill there are Bulma and Master Roshi, and that guy with the purple hair is Trunks - and it looks like he's going to fight! Go, Trunks!"

The young man with the oval hair raised his arm and waved uncertainly at Goku.

"Watch closely, Uub," Goku said to his student. "Trunks is a very strong fighter, and he's been training from a very young age. You can learn a lot from him."

Gohan approached Goku hesitatly, Pan behind him, her arms folded tightly. Uub's gaze crossed her's by mistake and he felt very embarrassed.

"Dad, we need to talk," Gohan said gravely. He looked worn out, as if he hadn't sleep for several nights.

"We'll talk after the fight," Goku said lightly, looking at the place where the battle was about to begin.

"I'm afraid you'll leave again," Gohan said, no easiness in his voice.

Goku realized that something serious was happening. "I won't. At least not until we decide what to do about that bunch." He gestured to the group of strangers.

Gohan nodded in acceptance. Then he looked at Uub, and to his relief he gave him a gentle smile that reassured him.

The fight started. Uub didn't even see who made the first move, he only knew that both fighters began to exchange blows quickly, attacking and blocking, attacking and blocking.

"They aren't using all of their power yet," Goku's explained to Uub, who had never seen a real battle before. "None of them are really giving everything they've got."

Soon the battle began to heat up. Uub watched in amazement. Goku told him he was a talented fighter, but his technique wasn't quite as smooth as those of the two fighters – not even close. They were so fast, and so powerful. How were they able to predict so well what their opponent's next move was going to be?

"Their powers are absolutely equal!" He said, watching them throwing blow after blow, none of them managing to hit the other.

"No," Gohan said, smiling a little. "Trunks is winning. His rival is starting to get tired. See how she's straining her movements before inflicting a blow - it makes it easier for Trunks to predict her moves. Every moment now... There."

Trunks found a gap in his rival's defense and exploited it, landing a kick that hurled her to the ground. He landed in front of her and hit her repeatedly whenever she tried to get up. Uub felt a little bad for her.

"Finish it, Trunks!" Vegeta shouted impatiently.

The female warrior took advantage of Trunks' momentary distraction and fended him off with a yellow energy ball. Trunks managed to restrain the energy ball in his hands, preventing it from exploding. He seemed suddenly angry as he threw it back to her. She managed to escape and the ball of energy exploded on the ground.

"Behind you!" Uub shouted, totally absorbed in the fight. He didn't know whether Trunks heard him or not, in any case he managed to block the blow that came from behind him. The battle continued.

One of strangers, the one wearing a green robe, approached Vegeta.

"My Lord," he said softly. "Forgive me for my directness, but is the rumor that spread across the galaxy correct? Is there a Saiyan who had managed to ascend to the Legendary Form on this plant?"

Vegeta smirked smugly, not even looking at him.

"Trunks!" He called. "Our friend here wants to see if it's true that we can turn into Super Saiyans!"

Trunks looked toward his father for a moment and then smiled. He pushed his rival a great distance away. Then he spread his arms and with a shout his energy surged monstrously.

Uub stared in amazement. He never felt an energy that strong, and it was only getting stronger. Trunks kept on shouting, his voice filling the air like thunder. The air crackled around him, his hair flying in every direction around him and rising slowly. A golden light flashed over his body, surrounding him like an aura, and his eyes flashed brightly. Then with a final scream, his muscles almost tore off his shirt and his hair turned completely gold, sticking up around his head. His eyes, which turned a bright turquoise, looked at his stunned rival calculatingly, amused by her shock.

Goku laughed, placing his hands on his waist. "Trunks really likes to show off, huh?"

"That's our Trunks," Gohan replied lightly, with a somewhat proud smile.

Uub stared uncomprehendingly. "But... How did he do it? How did he suddenly become so powerful?"

"He turned into what we call a Super Saiyan," his master explained patiently. "It's an ability that warriors with Saiyan blood have. Me and Vegeta are Saiyans, so we and our children can do it. It takes a lot of practice, but it allows us to increase our power levels." He looked anxiously toward Pan, who was looking at Trunks. "So, Pan... Can you turn into a Super Saiyan?"

Pan looked agitated, as if she was waiting for him to talk so she could leash out at him. "In case you don't remember, I'm only a quarter Saiyan, so maybe I can't reach it at all!"

"Pan, he's only trying to be nice," her father said, pleading.

"Wow!" Uub called. Everyone went back to watch the fight. "He's so fast!"

He couldn't even see Trunks as he cut trough the air and slammed his fist into his rival's stomach. Then, as she was leaning forward in pain, he hit her upper back and threw her body into the ground with such force that it created a small crater in the ground. He landed next to her as she made an admirable effort to get up, despite the fact that all her whole body was trembling with shock and pain.

"That's enough," the green-robed man ordered. "You proved yourself beyond doubt, Prince Trunks. You really are a worthy heir to the throne of planet Vegeta."

All the strange people kneeled on the ground. Uub saw that none of Goku's friends did that so he remained standing, although he knew that when he was in the presence of an important person like a prince he had to bow.

Trunks left his rival to get up and returned to the others, landing next to his father.

"So, that thing that you're looking for," he said. "What is it exactly?"

"It would be better if His Majesty explained, I'm sure he will do it much better than me," said the green-robed man. "My people and myself should gather our strength, we went through a long journey. I assure you once again that we will not hurt a soul on this planet - apart from those who will stand in our way."

"Excuse me?" Gohan intervened. "Exactly who is going to stand in your way? If you dare hurt anyone innocent - "

"It's all right," Vegeta said. "They won't hurt the common people. It's not what he means."

"I'm confused," Goku admitted.

"In two days in this plant's count our reinforcements will land. They are a large number of workers from an inferior race, weak but industrious. Their job is to help us search the entire planet. They won't cause trouble."

He bowed before Vegeta and Trunks once again and motioned his men to follow him as he rose into the air and flew away.

"Are you going to enlighten us?" The green alien, Piccolo, demanded from Vegeta.

Vegeta let out a growl of impatience. "We'll talk in the city." With these words he rose into the air. The others flew after him.

"I'm going to ask Bulma to call Mom and Videl and tell them to come, too," Gohan told Goku. "Please don't leave again."

"Don't worry, Gohan. I want to hear what Vegeta has to say as much as you," Goku promised. "Uub - Let's go."

Uub intended to launch after his master as a movement attracted his attention. He looked in it's direction. He thought he saw someone moving among the rocks, rising into the air and flying away quickly before he could see exactly what he looked like.

"Uub?"

"I'm coming." He forgot about it almost immediately and flew after his master.

Uub never visited a big city before that day. He was very happy that he was with Goku, and that he was flying high above the buildings. It looked very frightening to be down there on the concrete, in the shadows of the shiny buildings that touched the sky. He could see people walking in the streets, living their lives, and it amazed him. Even in the sky he could hear the echoes of the deafening noise and smell the strong strange scents that filled the city air; How could people live like that, so crowded?

They landed in a large yard, in front of a huge house - almost a palace - that could accommodated within it all of Uub's village profitably. The yard was well kept and very beautiful, full of colorful flowers and shrubs cut in intriguing shapes. The interior was equally amazing. Everything was white or gray, shiny and strange, like the fairy houses in the children's tales the elders used to tell. Everything smelled so clean, like clear water.

"Welcome," said a strange voice near his ear and he jumped, looking around in fear. He couldn't see anyone.

The blue-haired girl laughed. "Relax, it's just a computer. There's a speaker next to you."

"A computer?..." He looked at Goku questionably. Goku gave him a look as if saying he wasn't quite sure what it was either, but that it was best not to ask too many questions.

Everyone gathered on a porch that was bigger than Uub's house. The blue-haired woman - Bulma - sat him down on a padded chair and gave him something to eat. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was sweet and tasty. He ate meekly while everyone gathered, feeling a little embarrassed. The young woman with the yellow hair - Marron - sat down next to him and asked him questions about his village. He thought she was very nice and polite. He almost started to feel comfortable, until he caught Pan giving him a scowl from her place next to the rail, and he felt an urge to lower his head.

"Now everyone's here. You can start, Vegeta," the small man called Krillin said.

Vegeta was standing at the railing, watching the seething silver city. He said, "So you want to know what Cassius is looking for here?"

"Stop teasing us, Vegeta," his wife answered, smoking something thin and white.

"Cassius and his men abandoned their quest for domination and destruction in favor of another Saiyan way of life. They decided to devote their lives to The Sacred Hunt."

"The Sacred Hunt?" Gohan repeated in fascination. "I didn't know the Saiyans had a religion."

"They don't. Not like you think, anyway," Vegeta said. "It is a very old way of life, restricted to a small number of followers. It became extinct long ago, or at least so I thought. The near- death experience Cassius went trough encouraged him to devote his life to something higher than power and riches.

"Many years ago, when the Saiyans still weren't what they are today, they worshiped a legendary warrior, an immortal being. They called her Aainha – the one who loves and protects nature. They called her that because she preferred to live in the wilds, and it was said that she was able to take the shape of any animal. She herself wasn't an extremely powerful entity - her enormous power derived from her ability to reveal the desires and fears hidden in the hearts of powerful fighters and use them to make them her servants. Those servants were treated as kings, and people called them 'The Guardians'. Over the years, The Guardians of Aainha became cruel tyrants who exploited the Saiyans' fear of the Goddess to gain wealth and influence. Therefore the Saiyans strengthened in order to rebel, and finally, after a bloody battle with the Guardians, they managed to kill every single one of them and exile Aainha from the plant. Since then it was told that she wanders through the universe in an attempt to strike roots in remote green plants."

"So what's The Sacred Hunt?" Krillin asked.

"I getting to it," Vegeta grumbled impatiently. "This story is considered a fairy tale for most Saiyans. Over time, fewer and fewer people believed Aainha had really existed. It was a dark time for the race, and nobody wanted to remember it. But once in a generation or so comes a fighter who claims that on the verge of death he saw a vision telling him that all the race's troubles and disasters are a result of a cruel curse Aainha had placed on the Saiyans before she was exiled. That's pure nonsense, of course. But these people created a cult whose goal was to find Aainha – to hunt her, if you will - and so put an end to the curse. This is the reason Cassius and his party landed here. They believe Aainha is here."

"Well, that makes sense," Gohan argued thoughtfully. "Earth is one of the most green plants in the galaxy. I understand why a being like her would want to settle down here. But, Vegeta - Does she have malicious intents?"

"She doesn't have any kind of intentions," Vegeta replied. "She's not what you would call righteous, but she she isn't evil either. At least that's what the stories say. The real threat had always been her Guardians."

"But they won't find anything, right?" Trunks said. "It's only a legend."

"I used to think that the ability to turn into a Super Saiyan was a myth until Kakarrot did it," was Vegeta's firm response.

"So what, we'll let them have a look around and leave? It seems they really have no intention of hurting anyone," Krillin said.

"We need to be vigilant," Piccolo said. "We have to keep our eyes open. They can't be trusted. I, for one, would like to see this inferior race they summoned to help their search."

"Piccolo's right. We should at least take a look," Goku claimed. Uub felt that his words sealed the discussion, as if everyone were waiting for him to express his opinion.

"Goku!" A female voice shouted from the sky. A flying woman with short black hair was carrying an older woman in her arms, which was shaking her fist toward Goku. She jumped out of the younger woman's arms and slapped Goku hard.

"Och, Chichi!" He cried, clutching his face. "You don't have to hit me!"

"You deserve it!" She yelled at him, "How could you leave?!"

Suddenly she burst into terrible and uncontrollable tears, burying her face in her husband's chest. They weren't tears of joy or anger - they were tears of loss.

Goku looked shocked, almost scared, as he hugged her.

"Chi..." he murmured softly, looking around for an explanation. "It's okay - I'm here now..."

She shook her head. "It's not... It's not alright... Goku... Our little boy..."

Uub felt as if a black cloud came over the sun. Everyone seemed suddenly very serious. Even Uub, who didn't knowing what it was all about, was struck with an unpleasant feeling.

"What are you talking about?" Goku asked her uncomprehendingly. Then, slowly, he surveyed the faces around him. "Hey... Where's Goten? Didn't you tell him to come?"

The silence was heavy as lead. Pan hugged herself suddenly and slid against the railings to the floor, staring at her feet.

"Dad... That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Gohan said quietly. "Goten's... Not here."

"I can see that. But where is he?"

"He... A few months after you left, he began to lose his memory... It probably started beforehand, but until we noticed something was wrong with him... Well, we couldn't do anything. It was already too late. We tried everything. People, Places events - he just slowly forgot everything. At the end he could barely remember his own name, and he could barely recognize only me, mom and Trunks... Then... He..." Gohan cleared his throat.

"He lost his mind," Trunks suddenly interrupted. His blue eyes were moist, yet hard and frozen. His hands were in his pockets, and Uub noticed his fists were clenched. "I said I'd watch him one night, while Gohan and Chichi went to consult with another doctor. We were sitting outside..." He stopped suddenly, swallowing, as if the words were suffocating him. He shook his head slightly, closing his eyes and opening them again, repressing the tears. "I thought for a moment that he was starting to act like himself again... And then he just freaked out. I've never seen him like that before. He attacked me violently and ran into the woods. We never found him."

"But - his energy? Couldn't you find his energy?" Goku immediately said, looking between everyone in search of a way out of the grave reality.

"His energy sign died along with his memory. It just faded away with time. We couldn't track him." Gohan stared at the floor as he spoke. "I did everything I could to try and help him, but it wasn't enough... If only I would've noticed earlier that something was wrong with him..."

"I should have been the one to notice," Trunks claimed in a very low voice. Uub was afraid he was going to explode at any moment. "I was his best friend, but I pushed him away. I was so self involved..." Trunks shut his eyes, as if trying to keep the memories at bay. The air around him started to crack, like before he turned into a Super Saiyan.

"And you!" He shouted suddenly, startling everyone. Goku, who was still holding his weeping wife, stared at him in confusion. "Where were you when he needed you more than ever?!"

"Trunks, calm down. He couldn't have helped him," Gohan said in a calm voice.

"Maybe not, but he could have been there for him! You know he asked about you? He couldn't remember where his own room was, but he remembered you! He wanted you to be there with him! And where you were?! Running around with this village boy, instead of taking care of your family! What kind of father are you ?! - "

"Trunks, enough!" Gohan shouted sharply. He seemed upset as much as his parents.

Goku's face was white as a sheet. Uub had never seen him like that. He was so ashamed - he longed to disappear from existence. He didn't mean for that to happen - he didn't mean to take Goku away from his family.

Trunks' shoulders dropped, as if all the energy had left him. His face went blank, his eyes still wet. Without another word he stepped inside. Marron hurried after him.

A very awkward silence followed. The only sound was Chichi's sobbing against Goku's chest. Gohan's wife went to him and hugged him. Bulma mumbled in her daughter's ear. Uub jumped when she suddenly grabbed his hand and pulled him inside, taking Pan's hand as well.

He gave his Master a last look before leaving. Goku leaned his head against his wife's, his face white and still as marble. Suddenly he looked very old and sad, at the level Uub didn't know he was capable of.

"I'm sorry..." he heard him whispering into his wife's hair. "I'm so sorry..."


	5. Rooftop

_A/N:_ _Sorry for the delay. This chapter is a bit slow, but the one it's building up to is worth is, I promise ;)_

Chapter 4:

Rooftop

The next day Pan's grandfather was still there. She woke up early to go to school and saw him and his student sitting in front of her grandmother's house as the morning haze hovered low over the grass. They just sat there and talked, appearing a bit serious. For some reason, it made her feel a pang of jealousy.

Her father sat at the table reading the newspaper, but Pan noticed his eyes didn't move from side to side. Her mother was frying eggs, filling the house with a burned scent. Pan had no appetite. The mood was heavy, like when her grandfather left, and then when uncle Goten disappeared. It reminded her of those unpleasant times, so she nibbled on something, drank some orange juice, and went to school although it was still early.

She went up into the air, but flew a very short distance before she had to stop again. Someone was calling her name tentatively, so much so she could barely hear him at first. She stopped and turned back to see her grandfather's student catching up on her.

She looked him up and down. She remembered him from the Martial Arts Tournament when her grandfather had left, only now he wasn't so thin and miserable looking, but higher and more muscular. She knew for sure he was several years older than her, at least three if not more, but when confronted with him she didn't feel she was younger. He was so insecure, you'd think she was the older of the two.

"What?" She asked impatiently. After her grandfather, Uub was the last person she wanted to talk to.

"I... Uh... Um..." He began to stutter, looking at the ground.

"What is it? I need to get to school."

"Well... I just wanted to... I mean... I don't want you to be angry at Goku. If you want to blame someone... You should blame me, not him."

Pan wasn't impressed. "He told you to say that?" She asked suspiciously.

Uub shook his head, his cheeks flushed.

Honestly, Pan didn't know what to say. She wanted very much to let out the anger she felt toward her grandfather on Uub, but she knew it wasn't his fault that her grandfather had left. He was only a kid, he had just taken the opportunity. It wasn't his fault that he had natural talent, and she didn't...

Puffing angrily, she turned and went on flying. After a few minutes Uub caught up with her, flying by her side at a safe distance. She clung stubbornly to her silence, and he also didn't speak. After a few moments they arrived at the city. Pan landed on the roof of her school, Uub right after her, hesitating.

"Stop following me," she snapped.

Uub spoke firmly although his tanned shoulders tensed, his eyes shining, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you treat Master Goku that way!"

"And if I won't stop? What you gonna do, hit me?" Pan replied nastily.

Uub looked shocked. "No! Of course not!"

"Why? You're afraid to lose?" Pan didn't know why she was behaving that way, but she felt a strong need to land some punches into Uub's face.

"No! I - uh... I mean..."

"Come on!" Pan called aggressively and stormed Uub.

The older boy came to his senses in surprising speed and blocked her right away. Pan didn't surrender, continuing to attack relentlessly while the boy dodged her.

"Please, stop - " He almost pleaded. She seized the opportunity and rushed down, but he changed position quickly and caught her with her arms behind her back, paralyzing her. "Please, I don't want to hurt you!"

"It's not fair!" She yelled as she struggled wildly against his grip. "Grandpa Goku always promised to train me, to teach me to be strong like him! But he chose you instead!"

Uub's grip loosened slightly and Pan pushed him away from her.

"Pan..." he murmured, looking at her strangely.

It irritated her that he said her name like that, as if he knew her. As though they were friends.

"You're no better than me!" She found herself shouting. An electrifying feeling shook her whole body and a wind that came from nowhere blew her hair. The feeling was overwhelming, amazing, liberating. She felt something inside her growing as if hatching from an egg –

"Miss Son!" A shrill voice called her name.

She turned in surprise, feeling the electricity disappearing from her body. One of the teachers was standing in doorway that lead to the roof, giving her a stern and disappointed look.

"To the principal's office, now! You too, boy!"

After ten minutes there was no trace of the energetic euphoria Pan felt on the roof. She was leaning in defeat in a chair in the principal's office, arms folded across her chest. Uub was sitting beside her, tense and sweaty although the room wasn't hot.

"It's only the first day of the week, classes haven't even started, and you already got into trouble," the principal lectured Pan from the other side of her desk. "You know I have to report this to your parents."

Pan sighed. "I know..."

"I hate to do it - you know how much I admire your grandfather, Mister Satan - but it seems that this time there is no other choice, I have to punish you."

It didn't really bother Pan. "Okay..."

"You broke three school laws this morning!" The principal went on to preach. Pan just wanted to leave. "You got up on roof, which is strictly off limits, than you quarreled violently, and all this with a boy who isn't even a student of this school!"

Her investigating gaze focused on Uub, passing on his rural clothes and strange haircut. The village boy jumped to his feet nervously and bowed to the principal in an outdated manner.

"I apologize, ma'am. It won't happen again," he promised formally.

The principal observed him suspiciously. "And who are you?"

"My cousin," Pan intervened before Uub could say something stupid. "He walked me to school, and I wanted to give him a tour..."

"This is unacceptable, Miss Son!"

"I know," Pan said in defeat, wanting very much to just leave. She would hear enough about it from her mom when she'd get home.

"As punishment, you'll have to write me a four page essay on the dangers of going up on the roof, and the prohibitions against the use of violence."

Pan nodded quickly and used the ringing of the bell as an excuse to go. She didn't know how she was going to write four pages on a subject so boring, but at that moment she had other things that troubled her.

Uub left immediately after her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, following her through the empty school corridors toward her first lesson.

Pan muttered a reply. She felt tired, defeated, as if her grandfather's return home put her down like an oppressive weight.

"Maybe I can help you with the essay? I don't know how to write, but - "

"Would you let it go already?!" She yelled at him, stopping and turned toward him. "This is all your fault!"

With these words she ran into the classroom before Uub could say anything else.

Pan's day didn't improve after the morning's events. She was late for the first class, and although she had a good reason to she was reprimanded in front of the whole class. She hadn't learned anything, since she was too absorbed in her thoughts to concentrate. And if that wasn't enough, during recess her classmates told her there was a rumor running in the school that she was alone with a boy on the roof that morning, and were anxious to know if he was her boyfriend.

At the end of the day, that refused to end, she finally returned home. She was so exhausted she didn't care about her parents' reaction to the punishment she received from the principle. She landed at the front door and entered with a tired sigh, only to find the house empty. She left her backpack at home and walked across the field toward her grandmother's house, where smoke rose from the chimney and laundry flapped on the ropes. She heard voices coming from inside. She entered hesitantly.

Her parents were sitting at the table, sipping tea with her grandmother Chichi and Goku. Pan's dad was dressed in training gi, although he didn't usually train during the week. She had no doubt it was related to the events of the day before. Uub was sitting on the floor and playing with the chubby cat that was Chichi's only company in the recent years.

Pan expected her mom to immediately start telling her off, but instead, everyone smiled at her and grandmother Chichi went to serve dinner. Uub didn't look up at her, his dark face flushed. Pan sat down between her parents.

"We talked to the principal today," her mom began.

"I -"

"It's okay, Uub explained to us exactly what happened," her dad assured her.

"Really?" Pan was surprised.

"Yes. He spent the last seven years with my dad, I'm not surprised that he isn't able to tell the right time to challenge someone to a fight," her dad said good- naturally.

"You should know that the school isn't the place to spar," her mom said seriously, not rebuking her nonetheless. "But at least it didn't get out of control. When is the essay due?"

This conversation was over. Chichi served the food and everyone ate together. Her dad and granddad talked about the Saiyans, the possible existence of the legendary warrior that Vegeta talked about, and how, if necessary, it will be possible to defeat these strangers.

Pan ate very little, sensing a heavy feeling around the table. It seemed that the only one who didn't feel the strangeness of Goku's return was Goku himself.

Uub was seated next to her, eating shyly but in a hurry, as if afraid that the food will be taken away at any moment. Pan drew a form in her rice and put the plate so Uub could see. He looked at the rice, confused for a moment, then smiled sheepishly. Pan remembered he didn't know how to read and write, so she drew a shape of a smiling face, to thank him for taking the blame for what happened. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all.

The next day Pan finished her homework the punishment essay hastily (she wrote the essay in extremely large letters to fill four pages on the boring subject), said goodbye to her mom who was immersed in an important phone conversation in her study, and flew west before she could call her back. She quickly flew to Capsule Corp, where her dad was training since early in the morning with the rest of the fighters. The house seemed empty at first glance, but the machines that washed a mountain of dishes in the kitchen indicated that this wasn't the case.

Pan found her dad training in Vegeta's gravity room. The sight was impressive; Goku was training Uub, while Pan's dad was measuring his strength against Trunks', both floating and exchanging blows, their muscles tense with effort. For some reason Vegeta wasn't training, just watching the other fighters from the corner.

The room was shaking with the fighter's energy. Pan had never seen her dad so grim, as though his pleasant face had aged by years. She was eager to attract his attention, just for a moment, to see him smiling at her and telling her that everything is okay, and that not everything had changed like she felt it had in the last few days. She intended to take a step into the room, when Vegeta's white-gloved hand stopped her.

"The gravity in the room is a hundred times the gravity of Earth," he said sternly. "You can't take it."

For once, Pan didn't argue. She continued to look at her dad and Trunks stretching each other's boundaries, Vegeta watching as well.

"Why aren't you training?" She asked him, not expecting to feel solidarity with the grave man.

"In my years on earth I learned that battle isn't always the solution," he replied to her great surprise. "Being the most powerful... That's not everything. Cassius' arrival reminded me of that."

"Are you ill, mister Vegeta?" Pan asked, not sure whether she's allowed to laugh. Vegeta is admitting that being the strongest isn't the most important thing in life?

He squinted at her, coming back to himself. "If you tell nobody would believe you. Now go find the second brat so you could train with someone closer to your level."

Pan felt relieved and smiled. Vegeta's simple words calmed her. She gave her dad a last look, then looked at Goku and Uub who where also absorbed in their training, before leaving to look for Bra.

She found her friend with the rest of the gang in the back yard. Eighteen was sipping lemonade in the company of Master Roshi and Oolog, as the ice in Bulma's drink was melting in the sun; Her eyes were completely focused on her laptop monitor. Meanwhile Krillin, dressed in training clothes, was instructing for Bra and Marron, who were sparring over the mowed grass.

Pan watched from the side for a few minutes, until Marron sank wearily to the grass, gasping for breath. Bra looked pleased with herself.

"Great job, Marron!" Krillin said to his daughter, handing her a glass of lemonade. "You really got very strong."

"She can still beat me," Marron replied, wiping sweat from her brow.

"Well, Bra is a half Saiyan. And don't forget that she's Vegeta's daughter."

Only then Bra noticed Pan for the first time. "Hey! Why are you standing there in the corner?"

Pan shook her head and smiled at her friend. "No reason... Want to spar?"

Bra was filled with energy, as if the training with Marron was forgotten, and she agreed immediately. The other members of the gang watched them as they exchanged blows over the grass, creating energy waves that interfered with the peace of the flowers. Pan was delighted to find that training distracted her, clearing her head from unpleasant thoughts, creating stability. She punched, kicked, blocked, the faces of her grandfather, of Uub, of her dad and her mom passing in her mind. Had so much really changed in the last few days?

The answer was no. In fact, nothing had changed; The rustle of the cars in the urban roads still filled the city, crickets and birds buzzed around the fruit trees, Master Roshi and Krillin still debated as Eighteen rolled her eyes, and Bulma was totally focused on her work.

Pan and Bra's fists met in the air, creating a shock wave that knocked glasses off the table. Marron covered her eyes from a wave of grass fragments. Bra grinned at Pan, her blue eyes sparkling with delight. Pan laughed in reply. She felt liberated, free from the weight of the last days. Bra was her best friend, after all - she always helped her feel better, even if she didn't know what was bothering her.

The fight become faster and more valid, energy sparks flying around with each blow. Pan's blood was burning with energy, and soon the two began to aim at each other with bursts of energy, examining the limits of their power. They were so absorbed that they didn't notice how much time had passed. The rest of the fighters came out of the training chamber and watched them until they were finished.

Pan's dad was was sitting cross-legged on the grass in his orange gi. She was glad to see him as carefree as he usually was as he smiled at her.

"Well done, Pan!" He said proudly.

"Yeah, you were great! I can't believe how strong you've become!" her grandfather added, standing behind his eldest son.

Pan smiled gratefully, urging herself not to be rude to her grandfather.

"Did you see me there, Papa?" Bra asked her dad, who was sitting at the table with folded arms, thirsty for a praise.

"You should have been able to turn into a Super Saiyan by now," was Vegeta's cold response.

Bra's face fell.

"Vegeta!" Bulma said sharply.

"What? If she wants to become stronger she needs to hear the truth. She was born with an energy level so high that it's simply a waste she can't -"

Bulma wasn't listening to him. She said, "They're coming!"

Trunks looked over her shoulder at the computer screen. "When did you have the time to build an interface that detects intrusions to Earth?"

"Try to keep up, Trunks," she replied casually as she leaped to her feet and took the laptop. "Come on, what are you waiting for?"

"I can't feel any foreign energy," Krillin said, looking at the clear sky.

"It's because they are weak but many," said a deep voice behind him and he was startled.

"Piccolo! When did you get here?"

"Cassius said two days," said the Namakian from the shaded arc that led to one of the garden paths. "It's been exactly two days. I can sense their ships orbiting the planet. Their power is like that of ants - each is individually weak, but when they are many and united, they might be dangerous."

"So let's go," Gohan said, standing up. "Bulma, can you assess where they are going to land?"

Bulma nodded firmly. "Follow me." She took a capsule out of her pocket, which turned into a stealth plane as soon as it touched the ground.

"Pan, you and Bra keep your distance," Pan's dad told her while everyone else where taking off. "Marron – you too, all right? We don't know what will happen there."

Pan nodded in disappointment and Bra rolled her eyes, knowing there was no point in arguing.

"We're out of the game again, girls," Marron told them with a hint of bitterness. "Let's go watch the boys play."


	6. The Guardain

Chapter 5

The Guardian

Trunks was flying in the front of the group with his father, slightly behind his mother's jet. Despite Vegeta's gloomy silence he couldn't help but feel a little excited; He hadn't been in a real battle for years, since Buu's time.

Goku hurried to catch up with them. Trunks didn't look at him. He wasn't inclined to apologize to him, besides that he felt that Goku deserved the attitude he gave him two days earlier. No matter what a good guy he was, or how many times he saved the planet, it wasn't an excuse for not being there for Goten.

"We're going to fight them, Vegeta?" Goku asked with a hint of hope.

"No," Vegeta said emphatically. "Cassius said that they won't provoke trouble. We'll be there just to make sure that happens. Don't do anything stupid, Kakrrot."

They flew north over the sea, where large storm clouds floated in the afternoon sky. A salty breeze was blowing hard. Trunks looked over his shoulder and felt a certain pride to see Marron, his sister and Pan flying against the wind relentlessly.

Suddenly he felt a number of energy signs, pulsing in the distance. He wasn't the only one who noticed them.

"Cassius," Vegeta mumbled. "They're already there."

With these words he accelerated with an aura of energy. Trunks rushed after him, as did all those who could catch up with him: Goku, Gohan, Piccolo and Uub.

After a few minutes they landed on a beach of a forested island, sandy, gray and damp. Cassius and the other Saiyans were already there in their armors, glancing toward the overcast sky. An ominous atmosphere surrounded them.

"Your Majesty," Cassius welcomed Vegeta and bowed, his green robe fluttering in the strong wind blowing over the gray waves. "As I said before, there is no reason for concern. Nevertheless, I am honored you've come. Tonight is the beginning of The Sacred Hunt."

Gohan cleared his throat politely. "If I may ask... What are you going to do if and when you find Aainha?"

"You educated your people on this plant well," Cassius regarded Vegeta smoothly. Gohan looked uncomfortable, squinting at Vegeta. "Well, we will destroy her."

"So why didn't the Saiyans kill her years ago, when they had the opportunity? She is obviously immortal, if she's still alive."

"Nothing is eternal. Not Aainha, not the universe, not the Gods, and not even Creation itself. Each entity will be defeated one day. All it takes is a worthy hero."

"Let me guess," Piccolo said intervened gravely. "Thar hero is you?"

"Your contempt doesn't slight me, Namekain," Cassius replied proudly. "I saw it in my vision. On the verge of death I have been given the power to put an end to the cruel Aainha and the suffering of our race, and so I shall. At any price."

His tone made Trunks uneasy.

"He's crazy," he murmured in his father's ear. "He will destroy the planet if it came to that."

"That's why we are here," Vegeta replied without moving his head. "To prevent that from happening."

Marron, Pan and Bra landed on the island, their hairs blowing in the wind.

"It's snowing," Bra reported.

"Snowing? Here?" Goku was surprised, looking at the sky.

After a few seconds white flakes began to fall on the sand. But it wasn't snow; One of them landed on Uub's bare shoulder and he hissed in pain.

"It burned me," he said, looking at the white flakes at his feet with a grudge.

"It's not snow," Gohan said, raising his eyes to the sky. "These are remnants of spacecrafts that burned upon entering the atmosphere."

Without a warning, an elongated elliptical object fell from the sky with a whistle and landed in the sand near Cassius and his men. The metallic object opened like a bud and out walked a tiny, wrinkled creature with sickly pink skin, dressed in uniforms that were a bad copy of the Saiyans' outfits.

"Lord Cassius," The creature groveled, bowing to Cassius. "As you commanded, five thousand diligent workers from planet Arkdos."

"Thank you, General," Cassius replied. If he thought that the creature was ridiculous he hid it well. "You will be generously rewarded for your help - "

But he didn't manage to tell the greedy creature what will be his reward. A thin ray of light, fast like a bee, cut the air, buzzing with energy as it passed straight through the creature's chest, leaving a smoky hole in his body. The creature collapsed dead at the feet of the stunned Cassius.

Marron let out a scared sound, moving to stand before Pan and Bra. Uub took a step back, confused.

"Where did that come from?" Goku exclaimed, looking around.

"I don't feel any other energy signs on the island," Gohan said, searching the treeline.

"Look!" Piccolo cried out, pointing to the stormy sky.

Countless dark spots fell from the sky - the small and simple people of Arkdos - and towards them a human figure flew at tremendous speed, so fast and so far that he couldn't be seen clearly. Then bursts of energy shone like lightning, burning the creatures that descended to the earth without mercy.

"Stop him!" Cassius ordered his men, angry and shocked. Four of them jumped up quickly to stop the attacker mid flight. They surrounded him in the air, but he kept them away with a huge burst of energy, immediately creating two energy blasts to stop the arrival of the thousands of creatures.

The Saiyans assailed him repeatedly, but he brushed them away as if they were insignificant flies. They didn't interest him at all - it seemed that all he wanted was to stop the Arkdains.

"Piccolo..." Gohan muttered, watching wide-eyed. "Can it be...?"

"Yes," Piccolo replied in a strained voice. "It's certainly possible."

"What are you talking about?" Goku asked.

Gohan didn't answer. Without warning he trotted off and took into the air, Piccolo with him.

"Uub, stay here," Goku commanded his apprentice before flying after them.

Not willing to be left behind, Trunks also jumped into the air. His father thought the same thought exactly. Who was this warrior, and why didn't they know of his existence until now?

It began to rain. The energy explosions flashed behind the gray screen. Trunks moved in time to avoid a body of a defeated Saiyan that was flung to the earth and continued to fly upward.

The mysterious warrior continued to ascend, destroying more and more creatures, leaving behind the defeated Saiyans. Now Trunks was close enough to see his features; He was wearing a gi made of a majestic green fabric, with a thick cloth belt embroidered with shapes of leaves woven in yellow. A carved wood arch hung on his sturdy back, half covered by long black hair that dripped in the rain. The appearance moved his heart, but he wasn't sure why.

Cassius appeared out of nowhere, tackling the warrior hard. The fighter was pushed of his track but didn't lose his composure. He turned, soaked black hair covering his face, and Cassius received a blow that extorted all the air from his lungs.

Then Gohan was there, catching the warrior behind in a neck lock. He fought hard, but Gohan was stronger. The fighter shook the hair from his face violently, and the notion that had been stabbing Trunks' heart for the last few minutes came true with a blinding explosion. He felt like he was the one who had a black smoking hole in the stomach.

"Goten..." he muttered, but his voice was swallowed in the roar of the storm.

Goten's dark eyes surveyed the people around him wildly. There wasn't the slightest sign of recognition in them. Trunks' heart froze as his gaze glided over him without seeing him. Goten didn't remember him.

Goku hovered closer, looking at the boy – at the gloomy man he has become during these seven years – with gentle and sad eyes.

"Goten... It's me. Don't you remember us?..."

In response Goten expertly swung his legs and caught his father's neck. Then, swinging his legs, his father's head hit Gohan's hard and he had to release Goten.

Vegeta lunged at him, but a fiery burst of energy shot around Goten's body and dazzled everyone. Blinded, Trunks flew after the foreign energy sign, that was now Goten's. Smoking bodies fell around him in the rain, and he flew up blindly, following Goten's silhouette.

"Goten!" He shouted into the fierce wind. The cold began to penetrate his bones. They were flying high - the clouds hid the ground from sight - and the air became thinner. But Goten didn't stop his destructive journey.

Then it was over. The creatures were eliminated, and the remaining silhouettes of their spacecrafts fled, undoubtedly receiving the news that their general was killed. Only then Goten stopped, allowing the rain to wash him.

"Goten," Trunks called over the sound of the wind and rain, hovering slightly behind him. "Goten, please... Say something..."

Goten turned quickly with his bow at hand, aiming a pulsating arrow of pure energy stability to Turnks' forehead.

"Leave," he said. Under layers of hoarseness and roughness accumulated with a very long time of silence Trunks could still recognize Goten's pleasant voice.

"No," He said resolutely. He studied his best friend's face - the black hairs that stuck to the pale cheekbones, his eyebrows that were set in a serious line that he had never seen him wear, the drops of water trickling down his lips to his chin.

"I disappointed you once, I won't do it again. I won't leave you."

The arrow tickled Trunks' forehead, burning with energy. He suffered the pain, not moving.

"I know you remember me," he found himself saying. He didn't know that, but he wanted to believe it. He wanted to believe that like Goten had been in his head and heart every day since he had disappeared, so he had been in Goten's heart, deep beneath the layers of forgetfulness.

"No," he replied in sharp relentless, so unlike Goten he had known. "Anything that I do not remember, I do not need."

Trunks shuddered. He looked at the face he knew so well, refusing to let the words penetrate his heart. Goten was lying. He just wanted to punish him for not being there for him, to hurt him. He must remember him.

They looked at each other for a few moments. Trunks was forcing himself not to look away, not to let him go. Then Goten suddenly cocked his head and let his eyelids fall slightly, as if listening to a sound Trunks couldn't hear. It went on for a few short seconds, until suddenly Goten lowered the bow and hung it on his back.

The next moment he was very close to Trunks, so close that their noses were almost touching. Trunks fought a strong impulse to retreat, and a stronger urge to lean forward.

When Goten spoke his voice was much softer, much more familiar, making Trunks' heart flutter.

"I don't remember you, but you do remember me."

"Yes," Trunks said, swallowing.

"You have been thinking about me a lot."

"I think about you every day..."

"You want to be with me. You want to be free, not lonely in the prison you have created for yourself."

"Yes ..." Goten always understood him so well. He was the only one who could understand him. Trunks looked deep into his eyes, at the silvery droplets clinging to his black eyelashes, feeling all the pain and the loneliness of the last years being washed away in the rain. "With you..."

Goten kissed him. Trunks' whole body tensed and then sank into serenity. It felt so right. Goten's scent washed over him through the rain, a scent of grass and young trees and something that was distinctively Goten, something sweet that he would never forget. But the kiss was over too quickly, before he could understand how it made him feel, before he could savor it, and Goten moved away from him.

He felt suddenly very cold, then his world went black and he felt himself falling. Even then all he could think about was Goten kissing him in the rain.

He woke with cold salty water dripping on his face. He sat up with a start, suddenly remembering what had happened. Did he crash to the ground? Why hadn't he caught himself?

He realized he was lying on the wet sand of the island with Marron, his sister and his mother hovering over him anxiously. The rain stopped, the clouds drifting away to make space for a clear night.

Had he dreamed the encounter with Goten among clouds? It felt like he did. The memory was surreal, like a dream. He ran his hand over his face, touching his lips. He didn't want to believe it was a dream... But what happened to him? Why did he lose consciousness?

"Trunks..." his mother tried to talk to him in a concerned voice.

He stood up. He didn't feel hurt, just a little tired. The rest of the gang was standing farther away, in front of the Saiyans. Three bodies were laying on the sand, covered with emerald green robes. Three Saiyans lost their lives in the attempt to stop Goten. Trunks quickly approached them to listen to the conversation.

"I'm telling you, it can't be!" Goku told Cassius with rare anger. "He's my son! He doesn't know anything about this Aainha! -"

"Dad," Gohan cut him in a low voice, putting his hand on his shoulder. "I have to agree that he has a point. Why else would Goten disappear? What else could make him forget all of us?"

"Saiyan mothers were warned to put an end to the lives of children who forgot their names," Cassius said cruelly, surrounded by his wounded warriors. "It is a clear sign that Aainha chose the boy to be a Guardian."

"On Earth we don't kill our family members," Gohan replied coldly.

"He won't hesitate to kill you," Cassius replied in the same tone. "To please his mistress he would sacrifice his own life without a second thought."

"And as for him -" He looked at Trunks. "He was alone with the Guardian. His loyalty is questionable."

"What?" Trunks couldn't believe it.

"Don't forget to whom you are speaking, Cassius," Vegeta growled.

"You know I'm right, Your Majesty. The seed of Aainha's power is not immediately revealed, but grows over time, nurtured by fears and desires. You can't know whether the Guardian planted the seed in him when they were alone."

Everyone looked at Trunks. He urged his mind off the thought of the kiss and said, "He didn't do anything, okay?"

"So why did you lose consciousness?" Piccolo asked out of nowhere.

Anger bubbled inside Trunks. "Because I didn't have enough oxygen. The air is thin up there, as you probably know. We almost reached the atmosphere."

"I don't doubt Trunks' word," Vegeta stated. Trunks felt a pang in his heart; Pride that his father placed such a trust in him, while feeling guilty that he didn't tell him the whole truth. "If you have second guesses, Cassius, I don't object to our paths being separated."

Cassius grimaced in an ugly expression that clarified that all the dignity he showed Vegeta previously was an act.

"We didn't ask for your help, Prince Vegeta. Just don't stand in our way."

"If you dare to hurt anyone on this planet, including Goten, you will find us there," Goku said with exceptional severity. "Standing in your way."

Cassius grunted and flew away. His men took the bodies of their fallen comrades and flew after him.

"Let's go home," Gohan said after a few moments of gloomy silence. "I have to call Mom..."

"I'll tell her," Goku said, surprising everyone. "Just watch Uub for me, okay?"

He put his fingers to his forehead and disappeared. Trunks was convinced that guilt was evident on his usually serene face.

"He may have finally matured," Piccolo said, looking at where Goku stood a moment ago.

Everyone returned together to Capsule Corp. to change their wet clothes. The storm clouds arrived in West City, and the heavy rain that beat the windows didn't allow Trunks to stop thinking about Goten. His face in the light of the storm haunted him. He has matured, and at the same time stayed exactly the same as Trunks remembered him. His black eyes were able to see into his soul; His fears, dreams, desires, they were all spread before him more clearly than ever before.

He had to find a way to get Goten his memory back, to repair the injustice that had been done to him. To bring him home...

He snapped out of his thoughts when Marron handed him a cup of hot tea.

"Why are you standing here alone?" She asked him, also looking at the rainy city through the wide window.

"No reason. Just thinking."

"About Goten?" She went on to asking gently. "Was it really him there?"

Trunks nodded, running a hand through his damp hair, wanting to get rid of the feeling of Goten's lips against his skin so he could at least try to act normal.

Marron took his hand and led him to the center of the room, where everyone else were seated on the couches, sipping tea. She stood in front of them, holding Trunks' wrist.

"We need a plan," she stated. "To get Goten back."

Nobody had an idea. Everyone lowered their eyes.

"Come on!" Marron called. "Bulma, you're a genius inventor, you could come up with something! Or Piccolo, you're wiser than all of us! And Gohan - you always find a solution for everything! Don't any of you have some idea?"

Gohan ran a hand over his face somberly and put his arm around Pan sadly. Piccolo closed his eyes in acceptance, remaining silent in the corner. Bulma was speechless.

"Vegeta, the legend of Aainha doesn't say how to reverse her power on someone?"

"No, otherwise the Saiyans wouldn't have had to slaughter the Guardians, wouldn't they?" Vegeta replied.

Trunks was filled with an urge to be sick.

Marron looked at all of them. No one had anything to say.

Suddenly Uub rose from the carpet and stood in a stiff and upright posture.

"I want to help," he said uncertainly. "If you'd just tell me how."

Marron sighed. "Thanks, Uub."

"Maybe there's a way," Trunks said suddenly, a thought striking him. "If Aainha died, would Goten be released from her spell?"

His mother raised an eyebrow. "It might be an idea..."

"Assuming he wouldn't lose his mind from grief and put an end to his life," Vegeta interrupted bleakly.

"He wouldn't do that," Trunks argued, taking control of the tremor in his voice.

"Boy, the person you saw today isn't your friend," his father explained in a harsh voice. "He's a Guardian of Aainha, her most devoted servant. She made him forget his past completely so he wouldn't be loyal to anyone else but her. Cassius was right about one thing - he will die for her without hesitation."

The cup in Trunks' hand was shaking and tea was dripping on his hand. "You can't know that."

Vegeta let out an uncharacteristic sigh.

"Suit yourself, boy," he said and left the room in a gloomy step.

"Well," Marron tried to ease the atmosphere. "So all we need to do is to eliminate this Aainha... It can't be that hard, right?"

"She's supposed to be immortal," Bra said gloomily.

"Hey, we'll found a solution," Gohan said suddenly, standing up. His presence lit up the room immediately; He inherited that ability from his father, to highlight the hope in every situation. "We dealt with worse. We'll drive the Saiyans away, defeat Aainha, and get Goten back home. What do you say?"

Everyone agreed, turning from quiet to enthusiastic. Trunks tried to act like them, smiling at Gohan in gratitude when he put his hand on his shoulder encouragingly. He knew that the whole thing was supposed to be hard for Gohan more than for him – Goten was his brother - but for some reason he couldn't help but feel his friend's fate was placed solely on his shoulders.

Night fell, and the summer rain wasn't about to stop. Trunks lay uneasily in his bed, unable to sleep. The thought that Goten forgetfulness had begun with their first kiss, and that perhaps their second kiss will bring him back, haunted him in it's sweetness and its lack of realism.

Finally he fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming of black eyes and dark storm clouds.


	7. Sleepwalker

_A/N: Thanks for all the reviws and favs! Hope you like this next one._

 _I do not own anything._

 _Chapter 6_

 _Sleepwalker_

Thunder and lightning filled the night, and Uub couldn't sleep. He lay in the futon Mrs. Bulma offered him, but the feeling of the city noise vibrating through the floor, constant and tireless, didn't allow him to relax. He missed his village, and was eager to return to Goku's comforting and familiar presence. He felt trapped in that house with a bunch of strange people.

Realizing he wouldn't be getting any sleep, he got out of bed and left the room bare footed, leaving behind the sleeping Olong and Master Roshi. They were kind and generous toward him, like all the other members of the group (maybe except Pan, who still eyed him suspiciously at times) and it embarrassed him more than if they would have treated him unkindly.

A humming sound and flashing lights at the end of the corridor caught his eye. Curious, Uub trotted there silently and peered inside the room. Pan and Bra were sitting on the couch, covered in a blanket, watching flickering images that flashed over a device Uub had learned was call a "TV". He entered the room quietly and looked at the screen. The girls watched tensely as a shaken woman was approaching a half-opened door.

"Don't go in there!" Bra called in a strained voice.

The woman on the screen didn't listen to her. She opened the door, revealing a terrible masked man.

The woman screamed. Uub gasped in fright. The girls panicked and jumped off the couch in horror.

"Why are you sneaking behind us like that?!" Bra yelled at Uub, holding her chest in panic.

Uub wasn't listening to her. He jumped over the back of the couch and closer to the TV, where the woman was fleeing in terror from the masked man.

"She's in danger, we have to help her!" He cried, pressing his face to the screen. He tried to stab the man with his finger, but it didn't penetrate the surface as he had hoped.

The girls laughed.

"That's not funny! Don't you see, she's crying for help!"

Bra caught Uub's arm and pulled him back gently. "It's just a movie. It's not really happening." She sat him on the couch and Pan settled on his other side.

"I don't understand," he said, still suspecting that masked man, who was now out of sight. "So this guy didn't really want to hurt her?"

"It's all a show. Pretend," Bra continued to explain. She placed a bowl of puffed grains in his lap. "Watch and you'll understand everything."

Pan reached out and took a handful of seeds from the bowl. Uub imitated her, discovering that the salty dish was especially delicious. It was hard for him to worry about the fate of that woman, who apparently wasn't at all in danger, when the food was was so good.

"You never had popcorn before?" Pan asked him.

Uub realized she had been looking at him. It made him realize he was eating rudely, and he blushed in embarrassment. For some reason it made the girls laugh even more; Their laughter was contagious, and Uub found himself laughing as well.

They watched the film until its end, becoming angry with the people inside the box when they made stupid decisions, and becoming frightened when they felt that something bad was going to happen. By the end of the film Uub was full of questions, so they stayed up and talked into the night, until there was no more popcorn and Pan started to yawn every few minutes.

"Let's go to bed, mum would kill us if she know we were up so late," Bra said. To Uub's favor, she added, "She's not really going to kill us, it's just something you say about someone who's really angry with you..."

They left the room and crossed corridor to return to their rooms, keeping quiet. They halted suddenly when one of the doors opened and Trunks stepped out to the corridor. Bra was ready to give an excuse, but Trunks showed no interest in them - It was impossible for him to take any interest, because his eyes were closed. With a combination of curiosity and fear, Uub watched him making his way steadily and surely down the corridor.

"He's sleepwalking!" Pan whispered to them.

"Where's he going?" Bra asked, although no one had an answer. She started walking after her brother in silence. Uub and Pan joined, no less curious to find out where Trunks' sleeping mind was taking him.

He navigated the house corridors until he reached the back door, and without hesitation went out to the backyard. The rain stopped for now, leaving the earth wet and chilly. Silvery moonlight was shining between the clouds that drifted in the cool wind, playing with the shadows. The three watched as Trunks took off, flying into the night.

When Bra began to float Pan grabbed her arm. "Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"We need to bring him back," she replied. "Where can he be flying to at night? I think it's weird. And dangerous."

"I'm coming with you," Pan determined. "Uub, are you coming?"

Uub was surprised that Pan asked him. He nodded in willingness to help and the trio began flying in Trunks' wake.

The night was cold and the girls formed a faint halo of golden energy to keep themselves warm against the wind. Trunks' distant figure, silhouetted by the moonlight, showed no sign that he was noticing their energy. He continued to fly toward his unknown goal, unaware that he was being followed.

After a while he began to descend. They were very far from the city now, in a wooded and wild area. The open starry sky helped Uub feel more confident, and he led the girls to the ground, following Trunks. They cut trough the crowded, thick branches and were left in complete darkness. No light penetrated the trees. Pan lifted her hand above her head and created a small energy ball to illuminate the pitch black ground. They landed just a few steps from the barefoot Trunks, who was standing motionless on the forest floor.

"Trunks," Bra called to him. "Wake up!"

But Trunks didn't hear her, starting to walk through the woods. Bra ran and caught his arm. He pulled against her grip, and then, in an almost meaningless gesture, pushed her away with a force that caught her off guard. She was pushed back, and landed hard against a tree trunk.

Seeing her friend hurt, Pan sprang angrily and blocked Trunks' path.

"What's your problem?" She demanded loudly, gesturing to Bra, who was getting up painfully. "Wake up already!"

She threw a ball of energy at him. He pushed it aside with an instinct that wouldn't shame a waking person. The explosion broke a heavy branch overhead and the light went out.

In the absolute darkness Pan let out a cry of pain. Uub leaped blindly into action, feeling for her body to the ground, and found her lying motionless. The energy signs that belonged to Trunks and Bra were quickly moving away; Bra was undoubtedly following her brother.

Uub created an energy ball over the tip of his finger, and the warm light fell on Pan's unconscious form. Uub shook her gently. She opened her eyes to slits, but sank back into unconsciousness. Trunks apparently hit her on the head.

Uub loaded the younger girl on his shoulders gently and then surveyed his surroundings helplessly, not sure what he should do. He had to bring Pan to safety, but he couldn't leave Bra alone with Trunks when he was so unaware of his actions. Looking at Pan's face, he decided to stay. She looked young and incredibly gentle in her current situation, but he knew she would never forgive him if he abandoned her friend. Her dislike toward him was beginning to fade, and he didn't want to do anything that will make her look at him like she did on the day they met.

Cursing the thick forest and the absolute darkness, he began to follow Bra's energy sign. He was so concentrated on it that upon hearing a sound in the bushes he was extremely alarmed and prepared himself for a fight. But it was only a doe, watching him from the vegetation. He breathed with relief, dropping his hands. The doe was still there, watching him with big dark eyes, intently.

"Hello," he said. It comforted him to be able to talk to someone, or something, in that dark place. "Have you seen a girl with blue hair around here?"

The beautiful doe cocked her head as if she was able to understand him. She came over with light steps and sniffed Pan's head carefully. Then, for no obvious reason, she fled.

Uub tried to look for Bra's energy again, but he suddenly felt so tired that he found it difficult to concentrate. He yawned heavily. Feeling he was about to fall asleep, he shook his head and put Pan down for fear of dropping her. As he laid the girl gently on the ground he studied her face, pushed strands of black hair away from her eyes. Her small straight nose was dotted with delicate freckles. He hadn't noticed that before.

A bitter smell suddenly came over him. A red stain began to spread on the ground near him. Uub looked up in shock - A dead body was lying in a puddle of blood near them. His mother.

He cringed away from her wide and empty eyes, horrified, and stumbled and fell to the wet ground. As he tried to crawl away he hit something soft. Pulling back, he looked at his hands, which were now stained with blood. He had tripped over the body of his younger brother.

He jumped to his feet in horror. His sisters were also lying dead in pools of blood, all around him. His neighbors, his cousins, the elders - all of them were dead at his feet.

"I've trained you so you could protect them," said a familiar voice behind him. He turned sharply to see Goku standing in the middle of the forest, his fists on his hips and his face grim. "I left my family to make you a strong fighter. But you couldn't even save them. Maybe I was wrong, Uub. Maybe you can't control the evil within you."

"Master, no! What are you saying?!" Uub shouted in distress. It couldn't be. They were all alive, healthy and happy when he left the village. "Please, I -"

"No wonder nobody likes you. You took me away from them, and for what? Now you have no one left in the world. Good-bye, Uub."

With these words Goku evaporated. Uub tried to hold on to what was left of him, but it was just air. He fell to his knees in the pool of blood, shocked, broken.

A shrill, horrible sound of laughter echoed in the woods. Uub's eyes searched the dark with horror. There was no one there - and then there were a pair of terrifying red eyes, floating in endless darkness, watching him.

"I'm right here, boy... Inside you... All the strange dreams, the stranger's memories... You really are stupid if you don't understand what's happening. These fools thought your little human soul could restrain me..."

It sounded again, the laughter, unsettling and endless, like the vast emptiness of space...

Uub's stomach churned in a terrible sickness of fear. Shaking desperately with total helplessness, He crept to Pan and lay beside her, burying his face in her silky hair. It's all a nightmare, a nightmare he couldn't wake up from. They couldn't all be dead. He couldn't have done this to them. It couldn't be...

He must have fallen asleep in his turmoil, because when he opened his eyes the forest was flooded with the light of dawn. Pan was shaking in her sleep, her skin dotted with dew. Uub recalled the events of the night and looked around in horror. The bodies disappeared, and there wasn't a drop of blood to be seen.

"Uub! Pan!" Goku's voice called. Soon after he landed near the two, looking concerned.

Realizing that he was hugging Pan, Uub released her and fell at Goku's feet, his emotions overflowing. Unable to control the tears, he begged his Master for forgiveness, not knowing why.

Goku put his large hand on his head comfortingly, confused by Uub's behavior. Only as he relaxed a bit Uub realized the truth, that what he had experienced that night really was a nightmare. Goku didn't say the words he said to him, and the villagers and his family were safe and sound. The high and frightening voice was also imaginary... Still, it haunted him, strange and unexplained, like the nightmares her used to have in his childhood, before he met Goku.

Gohan was there too, lifting Pan as she began to regain consciousness. Vegeta found Bra, who was looking exhausted and haunted like Uub felt. She explained to the three men how they had followed the sleepwalking Trunks into the forest before they lost him.

"But where is he now?" Gohan asked, looking at the trees as if Trunks could be hiding among them. "I can't sense him."

"He's close," Vegeta claimed. "His energy is weak, but it's there."

He held Bra's hand tightly and took off with a determined look. Goku, Gohan and Uub flew after him, Pan resting in her father's arms.

In the early morning, the forest didn't seem as threatening as it appeared at night, but Uub still couldn't shake off the sights he had witnessed in the dark. The elders told stories about dark enchanted clouds that could come over people who wandered in the woods at night, causing them to lose their minds. Was that what had happened to him?

He looked at his Master. Goku felt his gaze and looked back with a reassuring smile. Everything was fine, at least for now.

They found Trunk lying on the floor of a rocky cave hidden among rocks and roots of huge trees. His father rattled him until he awoke, and he did so reluctantly. Unlike the other three, Trunks' sleep must have been full of pleasant dreams, because he clung to sleep desperately.

"Boy, you have a lot to explain!" Was Vegeta's greeting to his eldest son.

Trunks looked confused as he pushed his hair from his face fatigue. "Where are we? Why am I here?..."

"You really don't remember anything?" Uub was so shocked that he was able to open his mouth in front of everyone.

Vegeta clenched his fists in anger. "Damn! Cassius was right!"

Gohan looked at him. "You're not thinking -?"

"That's exactly what I'm thinking!"

"I don't understand," Goku interrupted. "Right about what?"

"Your brat had done something to Trunks! He is under Aainha's influence!"

"Dad, come on," Trunks interfered, standing up to prove him wrong. "I'm not under any -"

"You're not in any position to decide what you are at this point," Vegeta interrupted sternly. "It's no coincidence that after you were alone with The Guardian you start walking in your sleep."

Trunks grimaced in anger. "The Guardian? He has a name! It's Goten!"

"How many times do I have to say it, boy?!" Vegeta snapped at his son. The branches were rustling with his energy. "Your friend is good as dead! His fate was sealed, and he won't be coming back!"

A heavy silence spread after the echo of his words between the cave walls faded. Uub wished he could disappear just from hearing the frozen insensitivity of Vegeta's words. Gohan looked down at Pan's face with bitter defeat. Goku gave Vegeta a look that could ignite a flame.

"It's not too late," he insisted. "No matter what spell she cast on him, he's still Goten. He may have forgotten the past, but nothing can erase who he really is. It would never be too late to save him, if we do whatever it takes."

Vegeta grunted as he turned his back, flying away and taking Bra with him.

Trunks made his way back home as fast as he could, leaving the others far behind. He had to be alone with his thoughts, with the images that were spinning in his head. He couldn't remember how he reached the forest at night, that much was true. But it wasn't the whole truth. He did remember what happened, even though he still wasn't what part of it was reality and what was the dream from which he didn't want to wake up when his father shook him roughly.

He shook off Gohan and the others and slipped straight into his room before anyone could to stop him, locking the door behind him. Solitude gave him immediate relief. He sank on the floor with his back to the door and pressed his eyes to the roots of his hands, blocking all light, trying to return to the dark woods of his dreams. He tried to bring up the fragrance of rain on the leaves ground, the sense of soft earth under his bare feet, the rustle of leaves in the wind and the sweet song of nocturnal birds. In the blinding darkness he shivered as he felt Goten's presence...

He jumped when someone knocked on his door validity.

"Trunks!" It was his mother. "Your father told me what happened. Are you okay? What happened to you?"

Trunks struggled to keep his voice steady as he replied, "It's all right, Mom! I'm going to take a shower."

Thus ended the brief conversation and he slipped into the bathroom. He took off his clothes absently, surrounding himself with his memory of Goten close to him in the dark, on a rough stone floor. He stood under the running water and realized he was about to drown in a dream, in the remarkably realistic sensation of Goten's lips on his lips, on his face, on his body. But he didn't want to fight it. He wanted to stay there forever, in that dark place where there were only the two of them, searching each other's bodies without saying a word. He didn't want to remember how he woke up alone on the cold stone floor.

He clutched his chest, as if in pain. He had never felt like that, such a burning sense of missed opportunity, of bitter loss. He wanted more than anything for that night to have really happened, and his inability to know for sure if it had been just a dream or not threatened to stop his heart. But it felt so real at the moment. At that moment he felt he was about to die of ecstasy. He had never felt so alive, so complete, as if all his life up to that night had been a dream, and that dream had been his first real experience. As if he had been reborn.

No more cold intimacy with a variety faceless he had no feelings for. That night, Goten ... It was the love that everyone were talking about. That pure, complete joy that filled him to the brim as they lay together in the cold darkness, leaving no space of regrets and disappointments. He could still hear Goten's breathing, his heartbeat, so close, as if they were sharing one heart.

After what seemed like an unusually long time he came out of the shower, dripping wet. He dried his hair, then glanced at himself in the mirror, feeling an urge to check whether he still looked the same. His eyes were very bright in the fluorescent light, but maybe it was just his imagination. But a red mark on his shoulder was certainly not an illusion. He leaned over and looked at it closely in the mirror. That mark wasn't there yesterday. It was a bite mark...

The memory hit him like a thunderbolt. The ultimate feeling that overwhelmed him at his climax, and Goten biting and clawing his shoulder and the flesh of his back, matching his partner's ecstasy.

Trunks turned and looked at his back in the mirror. Red and purple marks adorned his skin, just where Goten had grabbed him.

It hadn't been a dream. Nothing of it had been a dream - he spent the night with Goten, and at dawn his best friend disappeared without a trace, leaving Trunks alone on the cold ground.

His heart shrank almost painfully. Feeling the urge to scream, he found himself starting to cry. He couldn't remember the last time he cried - not since he was a small boy, that was for sure. But it felt good. He was finally feeling something, real emotion, as if the ice he was trapped in since Goten vanished shattered and he could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin once again. He knew now that it had been the first time he felt real passion, real pain, real love...

"I love you," he said out loud in the silent room, as if Goten could hear him. He had never in his life said those words out loud to anyone.


	8. Voices

_A/N: Well it's been a while. Literally years. _

_To readers who read this story before, I've rewritten the first 7 chapters - no plot changes, just grammar and spelling._

 _Hope I'm not too rusty, enjoy ;)_

 _Chapter 8:_

 _Voices_

At the darkest hour, just before the dawn, the Guardian slipped past the Saiyan guards and into their camp, clinging to the dark patches among the bushes with skill. The guards didn't notice a thing – his mistress had summoned clouds to hide the moon and strong winds to blur his steps – and the Guardian entered the camp unseen. He crossed the open space swiftly and jumped into the nearest tree, finding shelter between the leaves. Then he waited patiently.

Soon the rest of the Saiyans began to gather, just as his mistress had predicted. It looked like they were preparing for some ritual, drawing rough shapes on the ground while speaking in hushed voices, as if afraid to wake the dead. Even with his enhanced sense of hearing he couldn't comprehend what they were talking about, the language was unknown to him.

After a short while the grey twilight of dawn began to appear in the sky, and the tension in the camp was growing, like the buzzing of a great hive. The Saiyans – there were ten of them now, after the battle that occurred two days before – formed a circle in the middle of the open space, and waited impatiently for something to happen. The Guardian didn't share their impatience – patience is the hunter's greatest trait, that was what his mistress had thought him.

It looked like the Saiyans had been sleeping on the ground, but there was a single tent that stood in the middle of the camp. From it stepped the final member of the group, the leader. The Guardian remembered him well from the battle. That morning he wasn't wearing his armor, nor his green cloak; He was wearing a pair of rust colored loss leggings, his feet and the rest of his scared and sun stroked skin exposed. In the middle of his chest he carried with pride a huge round scar, a reminder of the blow that could not slay him. He stepped into the middle of the circle, inside the rough drawings.

He spoke to his men in the language the Guardian didn't understand, his voice rising slowly, shattering the silence of dawn. His men called and shouted enthusiastically, as if preparing to go to battle. And although he couldn't understand what they were shouting, the roar of their voices disturbed and frightened him, like the prey might feel when he hears the predator approaching. Their voices spun images of vengeance and carnage in his mind, awakening the slumbering memories of the Guardians of old. The Saiyans were preparing for the Hunt once again, only that now there was only one Guardian to hunt.

The first rays of dawn peaked over the trees. The Saiyans were linking their hands together, after one last cry of rage. The leader was standing very still, eyes shut and fists clenched, prepared.

That was his chance. The Guardian drew his bow swiftly, conjuring an arrow of pure energy as he aimed his deadly weapon at the leader.

He was about to release it when something distracted him – a voice in his head that was telling him not to do it, not to kill this man, not without a fair fight. He pushed the voice aside, the will of his mistress driving him to fill her command.

It was only a split second hesitation, but it was already too late; A ray of sun colored the leader in gold, and a huge burst of energy from all his men was channeled to him suddenly, disrupting the Guardian's blow.

A deafening explosion swallowed the forest. The Guardian was thrown back with force, but managed to stop himself mid air, increasing his energy to shield himself. When it was over most of the forest had turned to dust inside a huge crater.

The Saiyans were still alive – their energy signatures were blazing after the sudden attack – and so was the leader. He was very weak, maybe even on the verge of death, but still alive. The Guardian balled his fists. This was very bad. He felt horrible guilt for destroying all that life, and all for nothing; The leader might as well survive, and if he does, he would become stronger. He missed his chance. He could never find him now, when he was so weak and the pain and fright of the animals all around were so strong. And his men where looking for him, too – the Guardian might be able to dodge their attacks in the open air, but if he were to go down there they would be able to corner him, and he wasn't sure he could beat all of them without the help of his mistress. He couldn't risk being caught or killed, he couldn't leave her unprotected. He was her last Guardian.

Knowing that his mistress would be very displeased with him, he turned and flew away, far from the destruction he caused. He wouldn't have to face his mistress until nightfall, which was the only time she could gain form, because the plant's sun was too strong for her to handle in her weakened state. She would be angry – she would know what had happened – and she would punish him. He deserved it more than he ever had before. But until then, he had another mission.

He flew west. The earth rolled beneath him with great speed as the forests and mountains turned into fields, and then into civilization. The Guardian looked at the towns and cities with disgust mixed with fascination. His mistress had told him how the heretic humans were destroying life with their greediness and hatred, how their cities were poisoning the air and the earth. He knew he wasn't supposed to want to go down there and see these people up close, but sometimes he did. Another reason for his mistress to punish him.

"You are lonely," she would say to him softly when the punishment was over. "You are a mere mortal, designed to live among your kind. You will not be lonely for long, my child. Soon their will be a second Guardian to protect me."

That was the thing he wanted more than anything else – first of all, for his mistress to be protected, and secondly, not to be the last of his kind. And his wish was about to come true.

He flew higher as he approached a huge city, a bowl of mechanical noise and terrible smells, and dove sharply when he appeared above his destination, landing in a flower bed. Now he had to be very careful. There were strong warriors near by – one of them had already detected him before, when in his curiosity he forgot to mask his energy – and he couldn't afford to make another mistake.

He crept towards the house, feeling around for the warriors, which appeared to be somewhere deep inside. But one of them was separated from the group like an animal that strayed from the hoard, vulnerable. He was close. The Guardian floated close to the side of the house, peering into the windows, until he found him.

He was sitting with his back to the window, running his hand through his silky oval hair. The Guardian leaned towards the window, forgetting for a moment about his mission and about his mistress' wrath, and even about the need to stay hidden. The man inside didn't notice him, concentrated on something on the table before him; The Guardian watched in fascination how the muscles of his back strained his shirt as he leaned forward, how his hair slipped over the back of his neck, reveling a patch of delicious tanned skin.

The Goddess had chosen her new champion well. He was was without a doubt the finest of their kind, a powerful and handsome prince. After the battle, when his mistress looked into the man's mind, he got a glimpse of what she had seen through him; He was the vast loneliness, the acing for something he could not define. They were so similar. The mistress knew exactly what he wanted, what he needed - what they both needed - and provided it for them. And after the night they had spent together he wanted more than anything for him to be his companion, to be b his side always, so none of them would have to be lonely again. But now, watching him through the window, a voice like the one that spoke to him earlier that morning – the voice that told him not to kill Cassius – floated in his mind. It told him that it wasn't right, that he wasn't supposed to be spying on him, that he wasn't supposed to want him to be like him. They were supposed to be together, but not like that - never like that.

For a moment he almost listened to that voice – his hand was on the window latch, ready to go inside, to grab Trunks and take him far away, to some place were no one could find them –

A noise that came from inside startled him and he hid behind the window pane. As if awaken from a dream, he realized what he was about to do, realized the thoughts that went throw his head, and without even trying to be quiet he flew away from as fast as he could, confused and frightened.

What was happening to him? Where were these voices coming from? He shook his head, flying as fast as he could but not knowing where. How could he even consider disobeying his mistress and approaching the soon to be Guardian? He thought for a moment that he knew his name, that they had meat before, but it was washed away from his mind like footsteps in the sand. He felt calmer once he couldn't grasp at it anymore, but something still felt off.

He stopped mid air when he realized he didn't know where he was. He was floating over a plane on an edge on a forest, where two small houses stood on either sides of a large field of turnip. He was sure he had been there before, even though he hadn't, and it confused him. Maybe he had dreamed it?

Hypnotized, he floated to the ground and landed in front of one of the houses. Peering through one of the windows, he saw the house was empty. A delicious smell was coming from inside. He walked around it once, carefully and curiously, and finally went in.

The smell was much stronger inside. He followed his nose, tiptoeing across the smooth wooden floor, until in one of the rooms he found a table loaded with food. An overpowering hunger came over him at the sight, as if he hadn't eaten for days. Without thinking twice, he grabbed one of the dishes and with a second's hesitation put it into his mouth.

His mistress had always provided for him, never let him go hungry, even when he deserved to be punished. But this food was nothing like what he was used to; It was so delicious, and nourished not only his body, but also something in his soul... Something...

He was so focused on the food that he didn't notice that someone was coming until it was almost too late. He managed to hide behind the door frame of the next room, just as a woman walked into the room. She was much older than him, with short dark hair and dark eyes. He had never seen her before, but something about her made him uneasy, nudging at that something that started bothering him when he was eating.

She inspected the food on the table, her pale face growing hard, and for a moment he was sure he was caught. But then she shouted, "Goku!"

A man walked into the room, drying his wild black hair. The Guardian saw him before – he tried to talk to him during the battle, but he couldn't remember what it was; He had been so full of rage at the attack on the planet, and the words and the sounds were drowned in the roar of the wind and the rain.

The man smiled with delight when he saw the food. "Lunch!"

he tried to grab some of the food but the woman swatted him away. She was much shorter and less muscular then him – she must have had some terrible hidden power, because the man stepped back.

"What did I tell you about snacking?!" The woman raised her voice, "The food is for Panny's birthday party! If you keep sneaking tastes there would be nothing left!"

The man looked genuinely confused. "But Chi, I didn't touch the food – "

"Save it, Goku. There was a plate full of eggroll, and now it's almost all gone."

"But – "

"And why aren't you ready yet? We need to be there in half an hour."

"I – "

"Go get changed, or we're going to be late."

The man, Goku, opened his mouth to replay, but then thought better of it and just nodded instead. He turned to leave the room.

"Goku, wait."

He turned back to her. Her stern expression changed into a sad one.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked with concern. "Its about the eggrolls?"

She shook her head. "I just wanted to say... I'm sorry I snapped at you. You didn't deserve it."

Now he looked even more concerned.

"Is that why you left?" She asked, and then very suddenly started to cry. "Because I was so terrible to you?"

"No! Of course not!" Goku exclaimed. He watched her crying for a moment, having no idea what to do, before walking over and putting his arms around her gently.

"Every time you left I told myself that you had to, that it wasn't because of me... But then... Goten... And I couldn't help but wonder... Maybe I had been a terrible mother? Maybe both of you just got tired of me..."

"Don't talk like that," he husband said, obviously helpless and the situation and not knowing what to say. "I wasn't your fault. He'll come back, you'll see."

She said nothing, sobbing into his chest silently. The Guardian watched them carefully, torn between the urge to leave and an inability to stop looking. For an unknown reason the scene made his eyes water. He tried to wipe the tears away, but they just kept coming, as if he had lost all control over his reactions.

After a long, heavy silence, Goku said, "I'll never leave again. I promise."

Chichi wiped her face, pushing away gently from her husband's chest.

"Don't make promises that you can't keep," she said. She gave an odd, sad smile, kissed him on the cheek and left the room, still drying her face.

Goku looked after her with a pained look, even long after she was gone. After a few long moments he slumped his shoulders and went to the other direction.

The Guardian made sure they were out of sight before he slipped out of the window and sneaked silently into the forest. He felt exhausted, like after a hard training session, and tears were still rolling down his face. He felt like there was a storm raging inside him. All he wanted was to get back to the sanctuary, to the serenity of the woods, to the calming bliss of his mistress' presence.

He was about to start flying when a heavy cloud came over the sun at once, turning the world between the trees almost as dark as night. In that darkness his mistress appeared.

He dropped to his knees at once, bowing his head deeply. At daytime she was nothing more then a heavy shadow, roughly in the shape of a tall woman with ram's antlers. Only her eyes could be seen, glowing in an ancient dark light. Her presence washed over him, powerful yet calming, and although he knew she was about to punish him a blissful calmness came over him.

"I have forbidden you to come to these parts," she said to him in her deep, soft voice, now laced with rage. She wasn't supposed to leave her sanctuary when the sun was still up – he knew she must be horribly furious if she endangered herself like that only to come before him.

"Forgive me," he replied. He didn't even notice these were the forests she ordered him to stay away from.

"The Saiyan Cassius has survived," she said. "When he recovers he will be stronger then ever. I am very displeased, Guardian."

He bowed his head as deep as he could, waiting for his punishment.

Suddenly her voice grew more quiet and dangerous when she said, "Something is changing inside you... You thoughts, they are different..."

He prepared himself, and the unnerving, numb pain came after a moment - that was how it felt when his mistress was looking into his mind. As she was roaming it he saw the events of day before his eyes; The explosion in the forest, the man with the oval hair, the woman crying in her husbands arms... She dove deeper, reading his thoughts and fears, and the pain became unbearable. It wasn't a physical pain, it felt like his soul was being torn apart. Nonetheless he restrained it.

"I will not allow it," she said when the pain was over, and he felt the ground swaying beneath his feet. "You shall not leave my side again, not until my second Guardian is at my side, and our enemies are vanquished. Return to the sanctuary at once."

The cloud moved and the sun was shining again. The Guardian allowed himself no more then a split second of recovery before getting to his feet and flying to the sanctuary. His night was about to be full of pain.


End file.
